Dormant Life: Philosopher's Stone
by Maud Greyluck
Summary: At King's Cross Harry Potter made a choice, but he didn't calculate into his plan that Fate will have something to say about it. Robbed off his former memories he is robbed of his parentage and grows up happily as the only son of Sirius Black but then..
1. Chapter 1: Stepping into a New Life

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Harry Potter or anything what you can recognize from the books. I do however own the plot of this story but I don't have profits because of it unless you count improving my English as a profit.

**So** **_read, enjoy and review (because I love to read your criticism and as long as you are logged in or I have your email I'm answering to your questions)._**

Thanks to **omega13a** and **aalens** for beta-reading and helpful suggestions.

_This story is side effect of working on appropriate plot line to Wheels of Time (which sadly at the moment is still on hiatus) as well as reading too much of Harry's twin brother or sister being the Boy/Girl Who Lived. Together time-travelling and the Twin Who Lived creates quite interesting plot-line which I hadn't meet before. The beginning of the story has its importance in following chapters even though for some time will remain dormant - that's from where the title of the story comes from. And no, I didn't merge two chapters of two different stories together without realising it, I did it on purpose because this story needed Wheels of Time beginning to give you a clue of what is (or might be) going to happen in following chapters._

**Happy reading.**

* * *

**Chapter one: Stepping into a New Life.**

"I've got to go back, haven't I?" Harry asked resigned.

"That is up to you," replied Dumbledore gently.

"I've got a choice?"

"Oh yes," Dumbledore smiled at him. "We are in King's Cross, you say? I think that if you decided not to go back, you would be able to … let's say … board a train."

"And where would it take me?"

"On," said Dumbledore simply.

Silence fell after that.

"Voldemort's got the Elder Wand."

"True. Voldemort has the Elder Wand."

"If I go back…" Harry paused and thought of Remus, Tonks, his little godson and so many others who had lost their lives. "Would it be possible to travel back in time … to save people? I'm …" he paused again, and saw Voldemort with the Elder Wand as if he was standing in front of him. He wasn't the true master of the Elder Wand, "I'm master of all three Hallows. Voldemort doesn't know that Snape wasn't the master of the Elder Wand. I'm its master."

"I cannot say what may happen if you chose to go back in time, but I doubt that you will be able to go farther back in time than to the day when you became master of the first Hallow, in your case the cloak," said Dumbledore pensively. "But I might be wrong, Harry."

"That one would be the only one that happened before people started getting killed," sighed Harry while he thought about the Resurrection Stone and Elder Wand, he had mastered them too late to change much, too late to save Sirius or Cedric, too late to prevent Voldemort from coming back. "I will go back, to save Sirius and Cedric and so many others…. Just tell me one thing," he paused and looked up at Dumbledore. "Is this real? Or has this been happening inside my head?"

Dumbledore beamed at him, and his voice sounded loud and strong in Harry's ears even through the bright mist was descending again, obscuring his figure.

"Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on Earth should that mean that it is not real?"

**A. D.**

It was just three days until Halloween and it showed in the students. It was as if there was some general rule which made students less focused on schoolwork and more prone to causing chaos. Privately he found it endearing, particularly because times like these allowed him to take a trip down the memory lane of his own childhood, way before everything went to hell… Professionally he was going more and more blind, deaf and probably speechless, in favour of _his_ children, much to Minerva's continuous frown. After all they were at war and even in dark times people, especially the young, needed to feel free and happy, even if it was for only a short while.

He didn't have children on his own. That had been for many reasons; the most important one being that he was homosexual, and despite advances in wizarding medicine, male pregnancy was still not possible, and even if it had been, he would be far too old for changing nappies and waking up in the middle of the night to calm a screaming baby.

But he had children, many of them … they were just not only _his_ children. And tonight he was awaiting the visit of his three most favourite _sons_.

He heard footsteps on the stairs to his office, they sounded as if his first visitor was running. Soon enough the heavy door to his office banged against the wall and a very agitated Severus Snape tripped on the edge of the carpet and tumbled to the floor.

"Fucking fireworks," Severus muttered. "When I will get my hands on those simpletons they will regret _gracing the world_ with their presence."

"Ah, Severus," Albus beamed at the younger man. "Who caused you grief?"

"The Dark Lord, Headmaster," Severus snorted as he gracefully picked himself up from the ground. "Though a pair of idiotic Gryffindors haven't improved my mood either, I didn't see them but I'd bet my new cauldron they are the culprits".

There was a loud bang from outside in the corridor, loud enough to echo through the stone walls, and about ten seconds later a blur of blue robes tumbled into his office.

"Death Eaters in the castle!" the blur announced. "Big attack, all the windows went out!"

"Ah, James," Albus smiled. "I didn't expect you so soon."

"Headmaster," James mumbled, and his eyes immediately settled on Severus and he muttered, "Snivellus."

"Potter, the perfect waste of clay," Severus hissed, surprisingly calm considering who was in the room with him.

There was small period of silence before James, apparently deciding that he had more important things to do than getting into a fight, said more calmly, "Headmaster, the Death Eaters…"

He didn't finish, because suddenly the noise outside his office cut him off. A bunch of shouts, 'Let me go!', 'Damned Auror', 'Why didn't you come to arrest Snape?'.

Less than fifteen seconds later a pair of fifth year Gryffindor pranksters were dragged by the necks of their robes into the office - by a grinning Sirius Black.

"Here're your Death Eaters, Mr Gryffindor Bravery," Sirius snorted. "You were running away screaming like a sissy because two fifth years decided to blow up the entire seventh floor with fireworks. A sight which I will commit to memory for a very long time."

"Must be the robes," whispered young Mr Campbell whom Sirius was holding. "Put it on and suddenly he is all law-abiding and saint-like."

"Yeah, four years ago it would have been him," snorted Mr Spallow, Mr Campell's companion.

"You two have a lot of growing up to do," Sirius snorted calmly. "Yes, four years ago it would probably have been me, but I wouldn't have let anyone to catch me, and if I had been caught I would have faced the punishment like a Gryffindor instead of running away with my tail between my legs. Right Headmaster?"

Albus watched the exchange curiously until Sirius's question reminded him that of all four of the adults in the room, he had the highest authority.

"Oh, yes," he sighed. "The damage?"

"Repairable," Sirius shrugged. "Nothing which several Reparos can't fix, or a good scrubbing, Muggle way, with toothbrushes," he added as he looked down at the two culprits, who upon hearing the last bit groaned in unison.

Albus hummed and patted his beard. Apparently Sirius had done a lot of growing up since he'd been a student himself, and knew quite well how to punish the boys properly.

"You heard Auror Black," Albus said finally. "You have a meeting with toothbrushes tomorrow right after dinner, until everything is cleaned up. Mr Filch will keep an eye on you gentlemen. You are dismissed."

Nothing was said until Albus heard the gargoyle downstairs shut the door behind the pranksters.

"Did my ears just deceive me or did you really take Black's suggestion, Headmaster?" Severus asked sceptically.

Sirius glared but didn't say a word.

"Knowing Black, those two would only need to scrub for about five minutes before their detention would end," Severus added lividly.

"If they would start now…" Sirius muttered. "Not after I would be done with it…"

"Are you planning to finish what they didn't?" Severus snorted.

"No, just add some doom and gloom," Sirius shrugged. "The prank itself would be relatively harmless if it wasn't for small fact that those two had picked the wrong wall. Behind the wall on which the fireworks struck is Flitwick's quarters, in particular his bedroom, and considering the hour, Flitwick should be there. Thankfully I managed to repair the wall before it collapsed, but someone had better inform those two idiots that killing staff members or students are perfect grounds of expulsion," he added grimly.

"Filius?" Albus asked alarmed.

"I sent for Madam Pomfrey and a calming draught," Sirius answered simply. "I don't carry a time-turner on myself and I couldn't split myself in two."

"I will contact Poppy, later," Albus said more calmly. "Now, boys."

Ah, he couldn't ask for more perfect example of 'we/I won't tell you anything as long as he/them would remain in the room'.

"Wonderful weather we have tonight," Sirius said finally, his voice was too light and too false to treat him seriously.

"Very starry," Severus supplied.

"Though I spotted small cloud coming from the east," James added uncomfortably. "There might be rain later."

"Yes, a storm might be very probable in few hours," Severus continued the conversation, much to Albus's surprise in very Sirius-ish tone.

"Any news?" Albus asked calmly.

"Will arrive tomorrow, in the Prophet," Sirius said lightly. "The word has it that Lucius Malfoy mooned Crouch at today's luncheon."

"Full moon," Severus confirmed. "He was crouching when Mr Black kicked him in the bottom. Malfoy toppled over with his robes flying up. Perfect full moon."

"Yeah," Sirius continued. "Uncle Ciggy does that to people. Lucy had to fall into his bad graces to get the kick. Probably Lucy denied a request of having another heir which didn't make uncle Ciggy happy."

"I thought that the Malfoys always had one heir," James hummed.

"They do," Sirius and Severus confirmed in unison much to each other's disgust.

Amazing how those three could get creative when they wanted, Albus mused. But obviously each of them had something they wanted to share with him and not the others.

"Severus," Albus finally sighed.

"Uhm, yes?" Severus asked quickly.

"Is there something you wish to share with us?" Albus asked calmly.

"No," Severus shook his head and when Sirius and James started looking relieved he added slowly and quietly, "Actually yes."

"Then…" Albus prompted.

"How many people are aware of that fact that Mrs Potter is expecting again?" Severus asked after a minute of silence.

"How… did… you…" James mumbled.

"He knows?" Sirius asked impatiently, effectively cutting James off. Unlike James who wasn't an Auror, Sirius, who was one, had Albus' ban on catching Severus, and on pursuing him very hard during his investigations.

"Yes," Severus confirmed grimly. "Somehow that knowledge made its way to the Dark Lord. I don't know how and I intend to find out. There is a very big possibility that there is another spy in the order, and this one isn't working in the Headmaster's favour."

"Benjy Fenwick, Emmeline Vance, the Longbottoms, James and Lily obviously, me, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew and…" he paused and shook his head.

"Sirius," Albus pressed.

"… and Mirzam Verascez, whom I cannot imagine skipping to the Dark side and spilling the wanker any secrets," Sirius finished with a snort. "Even if she did, she would be killed upon sight, too many people there know that she is a Muggle-born."

"How do you know so?" James asked sceptically.

"Regulus," Sirius coughed grimly. "If not I will eat my wand for dinner."

"You are sure that not one of you passed it on as gossip to someone else who could have then betrayed that secret?" Severus asked sceptically.

"I vouch personally for the Longbottoms," Sirius said simply as he shook his head, "Frank and I are on a case together, a mysterious death which doesn't look like something your gang would be behind. We spent the last two days with our noses in exhibit boxes, only taking breaks for food and trips to the loo. Crouch is practically breathing down our necks without any mysterious deaths going on as they are with the Wanker hanging over our heads. Any Auror on a case is an Auror less in the field fighting."

"And the others?" Severus pressed.

"Benjy was with his Muggle relatives, cousins or something, in Blackpool, or at least he was supposed to be there. But I doubt that it would be him, too tough material for a traitor and too emotional for one too," Sirius shook his head. "James?"

"Our house is under Fidelius," James too was shaking his head. "Lily won't let me go outside the garden fence if a red-robed prat isn't accompanying me," he added as he motioned to Sirius.

"She gave you a sitter?" Severus choked out, he wasn't even trying to contain his laughter.

"No," James denied quickly at the same time as Sirius said, "Yes."

"I sooo see you trying to argue with your pregnant wife. Come on, I dare you," James snorted.

That comment effectively shut up Severus.

"I'm not sure about the other's though," Sirius continued. "As I said, I can only be in one place at any one time and I had eyes on the Longbottoms only. Someone had to spill the beans, maybe not directly, but they might have been overheard when they were talking with their families."

"Try the oldest trick in the book," Severus commented. "Give them each something which isn't true. A different story for each of them, and I will wait to see what will happen, then I will tell you who might be the traitor or if not the traitor, then at least possibly an imbecilic leak who cannot keep his or her mouth shut."

"That's the reason we actually came here, Headmaster," James decided to take part in the conversation. "I… we want you to announce to the others the names of our Secret Keepers."

"James, I don't think that it's very good idea," Albus shook his head sadly, James was rash but hardly a total idiot.

"Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Mirzam Verascez and me," James continued. "Divide the information into groups which rarely meet together."

"Not one of those 'secret keepers' are really your secret keepers are they, Potter?" Severus asked more calmly.

"If they were would I be giving away the name of my secret keeper so bluntly in front of a known Death Eater, who I know is supposed to work for the Order, but I've no idea who he really works for. That's a hook for you too, you know."

"That's my cue to leave," Severus muttered and then he turned to Albus only. "I will give you the rest of the report tomorrow, Headmaster. There is nothing overly alarming at the moment."

Severus left, with his dark robes billowing after him. For a long moment there was silence in the room before James started scribbling something on a loose piece of parchment and Sirius lit a cigarette.

Neither had turned to each other, but Albus saw. James had written on the parchment the name '_Peter Pettigrew'_, and the smoke from Sirius's cigarette formed Peter's name in the air. As soon as Albus read James's note and Sirius' message disappeared in a cloud, James walked to the fireplace and threw his note into the fire, making sure that it burned.

"We thought you should know Headmaster," James said finally. "It's essential that only the three of us know that."

"You mean four, or rather five," Albus nodded slowly. "Is it all?"

"Yes," Sirius nodded. "Other 'secret keepers were informed about the identity of another false secret keeper, well, beside me and James."

Albus sighed in relief, "Stay safe and try to not attract any trouble. Give my love to Lily."

"Thank you Headmaster," James nodded.

They started approaching the door when Albus decided to ask a favour, "Would you mind terribly having your family come over on Halloween to visit me?"

"I don't know," James grimaced and looked at Sirius uncomfortably.

"I will try to arrange safe transport, Headmaster. Not that I'm promising," Sirius sighed.

**J. P.**

"I hate you, you know," James grimaced when they walked into almost dark sitting-room in his house in Godric's Hallow.

"Believe me, that feeling is mutual," Sirius snorted as he walked into the kitchen. "Do you have beer in the kitchen by any chance?"

"You were the one who was doing the shopping," Lily's voice carried from the stairs.

"Excuse me for my short memory," Sirius snorted, not in a very kind tone.

"Sirius," James hissed warningly.

"Sorry," Sirius mumbled quick apology. "I have bitten more than I can swallow," he shook his head.

"You said that it won't be a problem for you…" Lily started saying as she walked into the kitchen.

"It isn't," Sirius shrugged. "I want you safe, if you stay inside then you are safe. Since you will be staying inside shopping is out of question, and Mr Smartass freed all the Potter house-elves which, with all due respect Lils, because I know that you were behind it, was an incredibly stupid idea considering the fact that we are at war. Someone needs to do the shopping for you and since I have to make sure that you are safe then it's me… The fact that I'm doing the shopping for a few other families as well is simply nothing."

"Are you on duty tomorrow?" Lily asked, quite patiently.

"No," Sirius shook his head and then pressed the backs of his hands to his eyes. "Actually yes, Order duty, plus I need to take care of few things before I will disappear."

"There you go again," James grimaced. "Sirius, it's Fidelius, everything is going to be fine."

"Then why do I feel as if something is missing?" Sirius muttered grimly. "Anyway, give my love to Harry and Charlie and don't burn the house into the ground when daddy is away. I'm going to sleep like a log."

He kissed Lily's cheek, patted James on the back and within seconds he was out of the house.

"I'm worried about him," Lily sighed as she rubbed her belly. "Why do you insist on dragging him around when Peter could help too?" she asked sceptically.

"He is an Auror, Lily," "Peter is not. If I'm supposed to be lead around by a hand then I prefer having someone with me whom I don't need to protect."

"Remus?" Lily asked sceptically.

"We already talked about that Lily," James muttered. "I don't want to talk about it again."

**S. B.**

"I would feel much better if you ditched this flat," Sirius commented as he walked into his kitchen in his flat.

"Yeah, because having you Flooing to and from Hogwarts is going to keep our secret very, very safe," his partner grimaced.

"Mirzam," he sighed and his tired gaze meet a pair of concerned violet eyes.

"I will be at Hogwarts, after you will go into hiding, not before," she shook her head making her curly hair slip from behind her left ear. "That's not the subject of the discussion. How was it at Hogwarts today?"

"Ran into our spy," Sirius grimaced. "Who thinks that we have a leak because the merry news from three days ago made its way to the Wanker. I kind of figured the leak part out after hearing that He knows. What is worse is that not many were informed."

"That should be better, shouldn't it?" Mirzam asked sceptically.

"James and Lily, Alice and Frank, you and me, Benjy and Emeline, Peter and Remus," he shook his head. "James and Lily are out of the question, so are Alice and Frank, because the former isn't stupid and the latter I minded personally for the last three days because of our new case. That leaves Benjy, Emmeline, Peter and Remus, and not one of them is a person whom I'd want to consider a traitor."

"But you have to," Mirzam approached him and placed her chin on his shoulder, "Facts, no second guessing, no what-ifing."

"I guess that it's Remus," he sighed finally.

Mirzam grimaced and she reassumed preparing tea. Her posture told him everything she wanted to say but didn't say.

"You think that I'm wrong," he stated as he sat down at the kitchen chair. "That apart from…" he couldn't bring himself to say that, not yet, not so shortly after… "I'm trying to blame him for everything else. Don't you?"

"We already talked about it," she answered blankly without looking at him. "It has been three months Sirius," she paused. "I don't blame him for what happened and neither should you."

"Well if you don't blame him for what happened then you blame yourself and I won't have it," he spat angrily.

"But it's my fault!" she snarled as she whirled around to face him. "Curiosity killed the cat, you know. He had no control over what happened, you had no control over it. You told me to stay away from you on 17th June, I didn't listen. I chose to follow you and I got what I deserved for my curiosity!"

"Don't say that!" he hissed as he stood up. "Don't you ever say that you got what you deserved! Because every time you do part of me breaks into tiny pieces, because I hate to see you so vulnerable when you say it."

He had his arms around her, her head against his shoulder within seconds.

"That still doesn't change the fact that you almost always assume the worst of him just because of something he had no control over. Because when you judge him by that then you judge me…" she whispered into his shoulder. "And you swore that you will never judge me because of what I became."

"Mimi," he whispered.

"I was bitten by Remus Lupin, when you and he were running through the forest while I chose to follow you. I'm a fucking werewolf," she hissed. "If you love me, get the fuck over it, if you don't… I will leave your flat after Halloween. Divorce papers will be on the kitchen table…"

"Mimi," he choked out in shock at her statement.

"Now, I'm going to bed, I expect your answer by twilight tomorrow," she said as calmly as she could, then she slipped from his arms and without looking back, she went to their bedroom.

He was left in the kitchen with two mugs of cooling tea, feeling more lost than when he learned that his godsons were the children of fucking prophecy and had Voldemort breathing down their necks, worse than in the moment when he saw what happened, when his newlywed wife was almost bleeding to death on the ground of the forest with an angry werewolf behind his back…

Tea won't be good enough, not nearly good enough. He made a beeline to the liquor cabinet and poured himself a whole mug of Firewhiskey. He downed it in three big gulps.

Two seconds later he was pounding at the door of Remus's cottage.

It seemed as if Remus took ages to open the door. When he did so Sirius saw how disoriented Remus was, and judging by his pyjamas Sirius had woken him up.

"Sirius?" Remus mumbled sleepily. "What happened? It's two o'clock in the morning."

"Show me your arm!" Sirius demanded as he pushed past Remus and entered the kitchen which was behind the door.

"What?" Remus mumbled, more awake this time. "What for?"

"Don't ask questions!" Sirius spat. "Just show me your bloody arm! Both of them."

For a moment it seemed as if Remus was going to refuse but after he took a better look on Sirius's face he changed his mind, and rolled both sleeves past his elbows.

"If that's not enough," Remus said and he started unbuttoning the top of his pyjamas.

The normally quite self-conscious Remus, shed his top turned around so Sirius could see him better. There were scars on his back and arms, bruises as well, but Sirius did not spot the Dark Mark anywhere on Remus's body.

Something inside Sirius broke. Day after day, week after week, month after month of hard work to the point of exhaustion, sleepless nights which he spent worrying over everything and anyone, the pressure of keeping his friends safe, his wife away from people who would gladly kill her upon sight, finally caught up with him and he did something which he hadn't done ever since James, Remus and Peter turned their backs on him after his sending Snape into the Shrieking Shack.

Some sound tore from his throat, it might be a growl or cry, he didn't know. He felt his knees going weak and he crumbled to the ground under the pressure of the last few months. He tried to maintain what was left of his dignity by trying to not let the first tears fall, but he lost the battle.

When long arms came around him and hugged him awkwardly to a skinny chest he was crying his eyes out.

"Sirius," Remus's voice was gentle and comforting in some way. "Tell me what happened, please. You are obviously upset. Had…"

"Everyone is safe," he mumbled through the tears. "Last time I heard anyway. I just… Oh Moony I'm a fucking idiot and I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

He didn't know how long he was kneeling on the floor crying his eyes out like an infant, repeating his mantra of 'I'm sorry' to Remus, but surely it had to have taken Remus some time to calm him down enough to pour two cups of cognac down his throat. Even longer to hoist him up to sit at the kitchen table with a third cup of cognac placed in front of him.

He wiped his eyes with his sleeve and wiped his nose into Remus's dishcloth before he looked up at his friend. Remus put his pyjamas top back on and buttoned it up.

"Tea?" Remus asked calmly.

"Thank you," Sirius mumbled.

"Two sugars, lemon, no milk?" Remus asked patiently.

"Just lemon," Sirius sighed. "I'm too much of a prat to deserve sugar."

Remus rolled his eyes and dropped two spoonfuls of sugar into Sirius's mug without asking any other questions until after he had seated himself at the table, opposite to Sirius, and with mugs of tea in front of them both.

"Can you talk now or do I need to search the house for some Veritaserum to drag something out of you?" Remus asked patiently before he blew on his tea.

"Wouldn't work," Sirius mumbled. "Only Black family trait I'm happy to have: natural immunity to Veritaserum, quite high resistance to other truth serums, Imperius and everything which messes with minds. Though I mess with my mind well enough on my own without any outside help."

"Care to elaborate?" Remus sighed. "Still."

"I'm a fucking idiot," Sirius groaned.

"We already managed to establish that," Remus nodded calmly. "Details please before I will firecall St Mungo's that I have an Auror in need of very serious treatment."

"You probably know that the Order is aware that there is a traitor amongst us," Sirius said tiredly, observing Remus carefully from underneath his fringe. "I suspected you."

Hurt and not relief was what he saw on Remus's face and in return he sighed in relief.

"Me?" Remus mumbled. "Have I ever done…" his voice wavered and Remus shook his head. "It's my furry little problem, isn't it?" Remus's eyes bore into him.

"As hypocritical as it's going to sound…" Sirius started and then heaved a sigh, "Yes. It's your furry little problem. But let me explain before you hex me out of your house, you have every right to do so, but please hear me out."

"I'm listening," Remus said quietly.

"Do you remember the full moon three months ago?" Sirius asked quietly. "The one on the 17th July?"

"I wish I could," Remus grimaced. "Judging by how I felt next day I was sat on by an elephant. Took a while to heal and I had more cuts than ever before that full moon. It's a bit weird because I remember seeing you before the full moon but not after."

"I was there," Sirius confessed. "Before the full moon, until I beat the shit out of you, stunned and locked you in a basement."

He saw alarm on Remus's face, Remus's greatest fear dawning on him and he hated himself for being the one who was going to confirm it.

"I…" Remus whispered, but it didn't seem to make it past his throat. "Who? How badly?"

"You attacked…" Sirius said quietly. "My wife."

Remus paled so drastically that Sirius feared that he would fall off the chair.

"Now she has a furry little problem and I have a problem with her furry little problem, so she is in fury because she thinks that I have a problem with your furry little problem which is the reason of her furry little problem… and I have no fucking idea what I'm saying," he tried to present his problem as lightly as he could considering the gravity of the situation.

Remus only gaped at him.

"So to speak," Sirius started again, hoping that this time around he would be able to explain it better. "You are a werewolf, you had bitten my wife. Now she is a werewolf and she is pissed off at me because I blame you for the fact that she is a werewolf along with everything else… I'm…"

"Drunk," Remus finished sadly. "It seems to me that you already had alcohol in your veins when you showed up…"

Sirius grimaced and quickly downed what was left of his cognac.

"How long it had been like that, Padfoot?" Remus asked quietly.

"Since…" he started and sighed. "Since she nearly died in my arms."

"It's not your issues with me I'm asking about," Remus shook his head sadly. "I'm asking about you relying on liquid bravery."

"A while," Sirius sighed tiredly. "Since we lost Ori… but I guess that it was always there."

"Ori?" Remus whispered.

"Orion," Sirius whispered. "It was New Year's Eve, almost two years ago. Third month. We didn't say anything because… we were afraid, and later… there was not much to talk about. I hate myself for that," he grimaced and quickly poured himself another cup of cognac, "and yet I cannot stop … Even if I know that despite what I think, it's not helping me," he downed the cup in two gulps. "I'm not blameless, Remus. I despise what it makes me do, I remember how much pain and grief it had caused me and yet…"

"Your father?" Remus asked quietly.

"I wish that it was him," Sirius muttered. "At least then I wouldn't feel so badly about him never being there when I needed him the most. It was my mother. It wouldn't hurt if she was a quiet drunk … she wasn't. I really don't want to talk about it now, Remus…"

"But you will talk, some other day?" Remus asked patiently.

"One day," Sirius sighed and looked through the window. "Just not today. I have no right to ask this of you, but can you please come by my flat tomorrow, to talk…"

"I will," Remus said quietly.

**J. P.**

Sirius certainly wasn't a man he wanted to piss off, he decided after seeing a grim looking Padfoot on his doorstep. He seemed thinner than he was last time James had seen him, and the bags under his eyes were more pronounced than ever.

"Bad day?" James asked.

"You have no fucking idea," Sirius snorted. "Ready to go? Because I don't have whole day to lead you around." he asked impatiently.

"Who stuck a broom up your arse?" James muttered.

"James!" Lily berated him. "Children!"

"Harry and Charlie are with Bathilda upstairs," James pointed out. "I'm sure that they are going to be fine."

"Before we leave, can you at least think about changing the Secret Keeper to Dumbledore?" Sirius asked grimly.

"Why you are so agitated, Pads?" James snorted. "Peter is fine. No one would expect him to be our Secret Keeper, Voldemort of all people too."

"That's exactly what worries me, James," Sirius shook his head. "That no one would expect him…"

James rolled his eyes at that as he muttered, "About a month ago you were certain that he would be the best Secret Keeper because no one would expect him to be one. Now you are wary of him for the same reason. Can't you pick a side and stick to it, Paddy?"

"I do pick my sides and stick to them," Sirius hissed. "But unlike you I have better access to information or lack thereof. The fact is that the Order has a spy in the ranks, and it's not Mr Doom and Gloom."

"Of course it's Mr Doom and Gloom, Pads," James snorted. "He is a Death Eater. You-Know-Who. Ultimate evil apart from Voldemort."

"Do I have to remind you that because of HIS information you, your wife and sons are safe, instead of waiting for Voldemort to attack you like a bunch of sitting ducks?" Sirius snorted. "I hate him too, and frankly I have my reasons to hate him and my feelings for him are completely mutual. But I cannot deny that his information had saved a lot of people already. I cannot deny the risk he takes every time when he goes to a DE meeting. I cannot deny that quite a few of Voldemort's most trusted Death Eaters were either killed or captured because of the information which the Order received from him."

"I can't believe that we are having an argument over him," James muttered.

"No, we aren't having an argument James," Sirius shook his head. "You cannot call an argument something which is a one sided sputtering of what you want to believe instead of facing facts."

"Why you think that we should switch to Dumbledore, Sirius?" Lily asked, deciding to cut off their argument.

"Because Remus isn't a traitor," Sirius said quietly. "I wanted him to be a traitor. I trusted Peter when he brought his suspicions to us, but now, when I have evidence that Remus isn't a traitor, I'm no longer sure that Peter isn't a traitor."

"Why should Peter be a traitor?" James snorted. "Come on, Pads! It's Peter."

"Exactly," Sirius said grimly. "It's Peter Pettigrew, your shadow, greatest fan and loyal follower, but are you truly sure that he wouldn't betray us if the price was high enough?"

"Paddy, it's Peter," James sighed. "He is too weak and too much of a coward to betray us."

"That would be actually a good reason for him to betray us," Sirius shook his head. "Never mind, I'm going to bring my suspicions to Dumbledore and we will see what he will say."

**S. B.**

"How are you feeling?" he asked Mirzam quietly while James and Lily were busy with their conversation with Dumbledore.

"Better, the talk helped," she nodded as she took a look at the map of Order members' households. "The more important question is: how are you feeling?"

"Like a piece of dragon dung," he admitted. "Tired, overworked, underpaid and terribly worried about the idiot over there," he motioned with his head to James. In the meantime he heard the door opening and from the corner of his eye he spotted Snape, "Hello Git! You have news?"

"Can you make sure that Potter won't interrupt me?" Snape asked grimly. "Because I have something to say which might be bad news."

"Then don't say it," James called out. "It's Halloween, don't spoil the holiday for other people."

"Don't worry if someone is going to spoil someone's Halloween it won't be me," Snape spat. "If you cannot act like an adult then you are welcome to leave the room, because it's not a conversation which should involve dim-witted children."

"Come Sirius, we are obviously unwanted here," James snorted as he started standing up. "We will wait outside."

"As I said it's not a conversation for dim-witted children," Snape said sourly. "I never said that Black is one," he paused. "At the moment at least," he added.

"Thank you, that's actually the best compliment I heard from you Mr Doom and Gloom since Merlin only knows when," Sirius snorted. "What's wrong?"

"The Dark Lord," Snape muttered. "That's what wrong. At the meeting he was quite happily boasting that he is going to kill the Potters tonight but since they are here…"

"I don't want to interrupt you, Sev," Mirzam said nervously. "But if the Potters house in Godric's Hallow is under Fidelius Charm, how come I can see the house on the map?"

"Boys!" Sirius breathed out. "Mimi send for Aurors to capture Peter Pettigrew, I don't give a fuck how they are going to do so, but they need to apprehend him, dead or alive. Remember to tell them what I told you."

He said everything while he was conjuring a Portkey. The floo was out of the question, he didn't know what would meet him inside the house, if Voldemort had managed to get to Harry and Charlie before him. A portkey to the garden fence would be a bit safer.

His feet hit the ground in front of the house, he looked at the house,, and he felt his knees going weak. The house was in ruins. He heard a noise behind himself but he didn't look in that direction as he ran to the house.

He spared one glance at Bathilda's body on the floor in the living-room, his mind was on the boys, who surely would be dead, but until he saw their still forms there was still some small hope that…

The boys' bedroom upstairs still had its door. He yanked the door off of its hinges as he fell inside the room, and immediately he stopped dead in his tracks.

Little Harry was lying dead on the floor and next to him was kneeling a wide eyed Charlie, very fucking much alive.

"Charlie!" Lily, who had to be behind Sirius, squealed and immediately grabbed Charlie into her arms. "It's a miracle," she sobbed into Charlie's pyjamas.

James slowly approached Harry and checked his pulse and breathing before he shook his head sadly just when a painful sound tore from Lily who leaned against the crib heavily.

"James, Lily," Dumbledore's voice tore through the air and Sirius felt the older man's hand on his shoulder. "How are the boys?"

"Charlie is fine, but Harry is dead," James whispered. "Now excuse me, I need to take care of my wife and son who is still alive, we are going to St Mungo's. Can you please take care of Harry's body?"

They Disapparated instantly and Sirius was left starring at Harry's still form. He was so small, so vulnerable, that bloody gash on his forehead… Merlin.

"Sirius, can you please take Harry's body to my office. I will join you in a minute. I just need to check something out. The wards will allow you to Apparate," Dumbledore said as he slowly picked up, and then handed Sirius, Harry's still body.

He was so small, so innocent and so …

"Black?" Snape's voice tore through the air. "What happened?"

"Voldemort," Sirius mumbled. "Harry…" he couldn't bring himself to say that.

For a reason he couldn't understand losing Harry felt so painfully familiar like losing Ori. But Ori died before he was born. He was yet another number in the sad statistic of miscarriages to most people. Not for his parents, not to hearts which swelled twice in size to accommodate the life they created together. He was their secret, their hope, their power to keep fighting when like many other parents or parents to be, they were simply scared.

And then Ori died. Died and left gaping holes in their hearts, love which they never had a chance to show to their son. Love, something so sweet, supposed to be cherished, after Ori's death it tasted of ashes and bitterness. How he envied James being a father of not one but two sons…

When the boys were born James had given him not much of a choice when James wanted him to become the godfather of his firstborn son, the stronger and healthier twin, Charlie. But for a reason he couldn't understand Sirius felt drawn to the weaker one that was more prone to sicknesses, Harry, who had his mother's green eyes and features… That's why he decided to become godfather of both. Harry started looking more like James later when the previously very similar to James brown-eyed Charlie, had developed more of Lily's features. The only thing both had in common was James's messy hair…

There wasn't a thing which he wouldn't have done for Harry or Charlie and now Harry, just like Ori was gone for good.

If James and Lily were going to ask him again to become a godfather… He didn't believe that his heart would be able to take yet another blow like that, the tiniest possibility of losing another child he loved so dearly…

"Black, let go," Snape's voice which tore Sirius from his thoughts was calm but demanding.

"What?" Sirius snarled. "Can you at least have some…"

"Black, corpses don't blink," Snape said calmly.

"Of course they don't," Sirius huffed. "They are corpses!"

"Then you will allow me to find out how it is possible that the dead child in your arms blinks when by all rights it shouldn't?" Snape asked sourly.

"What?" Sirius yelped and immediately looked down at the child in his arms.

Harry wasn't moving, he wasn't even twitching, but his eyes… His big, green eyes, were open wide and he was staring at Sirius pleadingly. They weren't the emotionless eyes of a corpse.

Harry's body was slowly taken away from him and placed on Dumbledore's desk. Harry didn't move his head but his eyes immediately followed Sirius.

It was tiny and irrational, but it was hope, a small hope which blossomed in his heart and made him choke down his former grief.

"He is alive," Snape said quietly, after performing flourish wand movements over Harry's prone body. "But as good as dead," he added even more quietly. "Something is consuming his life-force and magic rapidly. Come morning he will be dead."

"Can you save him?" Sirius whispered.

"There is not much I can do, Black and everything I would do will be prolonging his agony," Snape shook his head. "Not without blood magic and a terrible amount of it, as well as the Dark Arts."

"Few hours," Sirius whispered. "That's all I ask. To give his family a chance to say goodbye to him."

"Bring them to my quarters," Snape said quietly. "I will try to do as much as I can… but don't expect miracles. Two, three hours, is as much as I can promise. Be quick. Mirzam, can you help me?"

How he managed to Apparate through Hogwarts anti-apparition wards he had no idea, perhaps Dumbledore's permission for him to do so was still in place or perhaps his determination was stronger than the wards. It was irrelevant, all that mattered was that he did so and he found himself in the foyer of St Mungo's.

He shouldered past other patients who were visiting relatives or asking for loved ones.

"Where are Lily and Charlie Potter?" he asked harshly.

"I'm not…" the witch at the desk started.

"I need to speak with James Potter urgently, if you don't tell me where his wife and son are you will wish that Voldemort got you first when I'm done with you," he hissed lividly.

"Paediatrics ward, third floor," the witch mumbled.

"Thank you," he called over his shoulder.

He was too anxious to wait for the lifts so he sprinted up the stairs until in no time he found himself on the third floor, and immediately spotted a familiar black mop in the waiting room.

"James…" he gasped.

"Sirius," James sighed in relief. "I'm so glad you came…"

"Harry is dying…" Sirius didn't allow him to finish the sentence.

"Harry is already dead," James shook his head. "They are trying to stop Lily from giving birth, it's too early and Charlie is on the table, unconscious, they are…"

"James!" Sirius hissed. "Harry is dying!" he bellowed. "Lily is strong. Charlie will be fine. Harry is dying!"

"Lily isn't strong," James shook his head. "She is stronger than other women, but not that strong, and Charlie is all we have, all we are going to have if that baby dies…."

He wanted to scream, he really did. Harry was dying and James was being a complete arse. Shock, it had to be shock, perhaps Lily…

"Where is Lily?" he asked when he finally was able to form coherent sentences.

"You won't do that to her!" James hissed angrily. "She is inch away from giving birth to a premature child, inches from loosing another child, while our son is having an operation. If you do that to her I will fucking kill you."

"Harry…" Sirius whispered.

"Is dying. You said so yourself," James said icily. "I have the living to take care of now. If you feel like playing daddy then go and play dad. Harry doesn't matter any more."

It felt as if a knife was driven through his heart and then it was turned around violently. This was James Potter, his best friend, the brother whom he never had found in Regulus… How much of an asshole one had to be to not give a damn about one's son, who was dying… and to turn Sirius's worst fear, his worst memory against him.

Something had died inside him, a very painful death.

"Very well," he said icily. "I hope that the guilt of abandoning your dying son will not let you sleep, will consume you alive and that every single time you would look into your children's faces you would remember the one you left to die," he added lividly, and then not really knowing whether he wanted to do it or not, he punched James straight in his face, hard enough to knock James on his arse. "You were my brother once but you aren't him anymore."

Ten minutes later he was on his way to the dungeons.

He strode into Snape's office and saw a hopeful Dumbledore leaning against the desk.

"From now on James Charlus Potter for me remains officially dead or as good as," Sirius spat. "I hope that every look on the face of his children will always remind him of the son he left to die in loneliness."

"Harry won't die in loneliness, Sirius," Dumbledore said gently. "He has you and Mirzam and Severus and Remus and me by his side."

"Remus is here?" Sirius asked quietly.

"Actually he is on his way here, but he should be here in a few minutes. I called him off the mission," Dumbledore explained.

Sirius nodded dully and allowed Dumbledore to lead him to Snape's bedroom, where, in the middle of a big bed Harry was lying. Big green eyes immediately found him and in the same moment, Mirzam, who was seated at the left side of the bed, turned around and i made a place for him, but she didn't let go of Harry's small hand when she did so.

He seated himself in the place she'd vacated and took Harry's small hand from hers as he said, "Don't worry Harry, dad is here."

Absentmindedly he acknowledged Snape fussing over Harry at the other side of the bed, until he felt gentle probing in his mind.

He wasn't a master Occlumens by any means, but if he wanted he would be able to shut his mind from Snape's intrusion. He knew that it was Snape because Mirzam wasn't a Legilimens and Dumbledore always asked for permission first, at least until now.

He managed to tear his eyes away from Harry only for long enough to let Snape see and let the man have the grim satisfaction of seeing Sirius's and James's friendship fall apart over a dying child.

He watched Harry in growing concern, saw the pain which started to show in Harry's eyes as the minutes passed.

"Is there really no way to help him?" Sirius asked quietly.

His question met silence, even as the door to the bedroom opened and someone walked inside, it had to be Remus … If it would be James … Sirius would be able to hear him from the corridor outside Snape's quarters, somehow Sirius was sure of that.

"There is one," Snape said quietly. "Morpheus Potion – a sleeping and pain relieving potion in one. It won't save him…" Snape paused and then he added even more quietly, "It will only ease his transition…"

Something squeezed Sirius's heart painfully.

"There is another way," Snape said after yet another long pause. "Foolish, daring, painful with minimal chances it would work, but if it does the boy will live."

"James will appreciate that," Sirius said dully.

Thinking about James was painful, but the small chance that Harry might survive… This little hope…

"I sincerely doubt so," Snape said grimly. "For James Potter, Harry James Potter is already as good as dead. If the treatment works Harry Potter will die for good."

Sirius turned around and stared at Snape as he mumbled, "You said that if it will work then Harry will live."

"The child on whose hand you are holding might live if the treatment won't kill him but if it works then Harry James Potter will die for good," Snape said quietly. "Adoptions by law are preferred for a reason Black. They are safe and painless for the child involved. Blood adoptions aren't safe for the child and might be very painful and the burst of magic might actually kill the child involved if handled by amateurs."

"Blood Adoption Potion? Not much of a good way," Sirius whispered.

"The burst of magic might kill the boy," Snape continued grimly. "But there is a tiny chance that it will reverse the curse which is consuming the boy from inside. This is the only hope the child has."

"A choice between painless and painful death," Remus said quietly.

"A choice between death and hope for life," Snape correct icily. "Seeing that Black is the boy's godfather and at the moment the only guardian the boy has, the choice is his to make."

"This process would require only Sirius's blood?" Mirzam asked pensively.

"Generally it would," Snape confirmed grimly. "Though having two adoptive parents might improve the odds of survival."

"Human blood?" Mirzam asked quietly.

"Aren't you a human?" Snape asked sceptically.

"Mostly yes," Mirzam answered grimly. "I get more animalistic from time to time but for the better part I'm a human."

"Pardon?" Snape asked quickly.

"I'm a werewolf," Mirzam explained with a heavy sigh. "I was turned three months ago, and thank you, I'm feeling very well."

"Well…" Snape started breathlessly. "Fuck. Fucked up but challenging," he added pensively. "Do you also happen to be married?" he asked after a second. "I'm asking just in case…"

"We got married three months ago," Sirius explained.

"Splendid," Snape mumbled. "Continue administering pain relieving potions to the boy and pray that I will beat death by inches. I will require blood from both of you but it might have to wait a few minutes while I start preparing the base potion for the adoption."

Eyes of all occupants of the room settled on Snape's form disappearing behind the door to the sitting room outside.

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**Awaiting criticism - like always. I'm replying as long as you leave me your email or you log in while reviewing. Bring my ego down ;)**

_Chapter edited: 2010/07/14_


	2. Chapter 2: Family Pictures

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Harry Potter or anything what you can recognize from the books. I do however own the plot of this story but I don't have profits because of it unless you count improving my English as a profit.

**So** **_read, enjoy and review (because I love to read your criticism and as long as you are logged in or I have your email I'm answering to your questions)._**

Thanks to **omega13a** and **aalens** for beta-reading and helpful suggestions.

**Happy reading.**

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**Chapter two: Family Pictures.**

**S. B.**

"Mr Black you have a visitor," Irene's screeching voice tore through the air.

He hated that. Well, not Irene herself, she was good secretary and a great help. She was even charming in her own way; able to find, nick and demand every document or permission he needed. But her voice … Merlin, even an annoying falsetto of a very drunk Moony, Frank and Snape at a New Year's Eve party, singing together '_The Sad Life of Fabian Puff_' was less irritating than Irene's voice.

"Did he leave a card?" Sirius asked tiredly after Irene walked into his office.

"No, but he says that he knows you," Irene explained from the doorway.

"Plenty people do," Sirius grimaced. "Fine, let him in."

Irene nodded eagerly and quickly led his guest inside his office. Immediately he wished that she hadn't. In fact he would have been happy if she had simply AKed him. He would've even helped her destroy the evidence.

"Sirius," James said calmly.

"Deputy Commissioner Black, Mr Potter," Sirius said icily. "Or just 'Auror Black', if your mind is too simple to remember titles," he added coldly.

"I…" James started.

Amazing, almost ten years had passed and James Potter still hadn't got used to the cold shoulder Sirius was giving him. Though it wasn't just a cold shoulder which was separating them; it was a bloody corpse. Harry's corpse, nothing had been the same ever since…

"If you are unable to articulate even simple sentences Mr Potter, then do learn how to do so, but somewhere else, because unlike you I have a lot of things to do, and I really don't appreciate having someone wasting my time," the coldness in Sirius's voice not only didn't disappear but increased tenfold.

"I need a favour," James said uncomfortably.

"Again?" Sirius asked lividly. "My answer is no, Mr Potter. Unlike my predecessor I won't be wasting my Aurors on your son. If you want to increase his safety I won't stop you, but for that hire bloody bodyguards and stop whining for the help of people who have better things to do with their lives than ensuring that your son will have a fresh handkerchief to sneeze into."

"I'm…" James started.

"Terribly busy," Sirius stressed. "I'm sure that you will find someone to tie your son's shoes soon. You just won't be using my people for it. I wish you good afternoon and other pleasantries. Irene!" he called out the last word, "Make sure that Mr Potter will find his way to the door."

Irene unceremoniously dragged James away from his office – another thing she was very good at – she was able to tell which people were simply wasting his time and which were worth a cup of tea. For anyone who wanted to disturb him during a meeting like that, the statement that 'Auror Black is on the lunch break, sir, madam' came into use.

Speaking about tea…

"What a fucking jerk!" Irene announced sarcastically.

"I thought that you weren't planning your trip to United States anytime soon, Irene," Sirius chuckled. "I heard something about late November."

"Mid November, Auror Black," Irene corrected him quickly. "The healers were finally able to state that with triplets Annemarie won't be able to carry to full term, sadly… I was hoping to stay with her for Christmas," the last sentence was a small sigh.

"I know a Potions Master who can brew a potion which gives one the symptoms of Wizarding Flu. It lasts just a day, but the confirmation from a Healer that you will be unable to travel overseas for two or three weeks is something," Sirius said cheekily.

"Mr Black!" Irene giggled. "I didn't expect such a proposition from you of all people."

"Family is important, Irene," Sirius smirked. "Plus it's not every day one becomes a grandAunt of three on the same day, especially when Christmas is coming up."

Irene puffed heavily enough to mess her fringe before she said simply, "I'm not that old."

"Neither am I," Sirius grinned. "And yet I'm forcibly reminded about my age when my son announces to me every morning that his Hogwarts letter didn't arrive yet, and right after that my daughter whines that she still has two years to go."

"You are wrong, Mr Black," Irene shook her head. "Our children get older, we don't. Now find your tie, comb your hair and try to look like you are terribly late on your way to the lift. If anyone asks, you are planning to talk with Ragnor about giving the Aurors bonuses for summer vacations and for Christmas Bonuses."

"He won't give them," Sirius muttered.

"I know that, you know that, Ragnor knows that, and that's it," Irene winked. "Shoo, I know that you were planning to sneak away earlier than usual anyway, to have time to pick a proper birthday present for your daughter. Give my regards to your wife."

"Same to your husband. Thanks Irene, you are the best," Sirius grinned.

He did what she told him and that was the last anyone in the Aurors Office had seen of him for the rest of the day.

Well, he did have a talk with Ragnor, he went to ask his excuse of a question, bid the goblin goodbye and went to pick up some gold from his vault. But then Ragnor himself decided to escort him there, and they had a talk about the birthday party traditions of the goblins. Damn goblins for remembering dates. But to give Ragnor justice, before he was promoted to minding the Auror Office vaults, for many years Ragnor had minded the vaults of the Black family, and his replacement simply wasn't Ragnor, - who despite keeping the facade of a very serious and respectable goblin liked to joke, and seemed to enjoy long conversations with humans.

While he was on his way to the Apothecary wanting to collect new Wolfsbane flowers, a familiar voice tore him from his thoughts: "Last minute shopping?"

He turned his head and spotted Snape behind him.

"I know what I'm doing here but what you are doing here?," Sirius said simply.

"Shopping and wondering which poison will be the best for the new addition to the teaching staff," Snape answered simply. "But I'm sure that you were informed about my plans beforehand."

"Yeah, and I would prefer you to find one plan and stick to it," Sirius chuckled. "I wanted to pick some Wolfsbane for the minx because you get cranky when she borrows yours, and most likely a new cauldron, she melted the last three."

"Still set on brewing Wolfsbane potion?" Snape asked curiously.

"Indeed, and you'd better explain to her that it is incredibly dangerous for her to brew, because our arguments aren't working, and I'm getting a bit tired of jinxing the lab to destroy whatever she brews on her own, before it will explode," Sirius smirked.

"I will pull her aside tomorrow," Snape nodded. "Seeking a gift?"

"Actually yes," Sirius confirmed guiltily. "I mean I have bigger part of the gift already in a hiding place, but I wanted to add something small to it."

"You actually know what you want?" Snape snorted. "That would be something new if you did."

"Don't start again," Sirius rolled his eyes. "I was thinking about jewellery. She is a girl and she's already stealing Mirzam's jewellery."

"Then I'll see you tomorrow," Snape smirked, and stormed off in his own direction.

Apparating straight into the hall had one simple advantage over going inside through the door: if he used the door there was no way for him to enter the house without being knocked back outside of it by two human bullets which were always launched at him as soon as he arrived home. When he Apparated straight into the hall, he at least had time to take off his shoes before his back was forced to have a meeting with the front door.

"Daddy!" a squeal tore through the air.

Spare seconds later he was hit by one bullet and a moment later by the other. To his satisfaction he managed to maintain a vertical position.

"Hey Reggie! Hey Randa!" he grinned. "Did you manage to blow the house up today?"

"Kreacher vanished my potion," Miranda announced, she sounded like an offended cat. "And said that you said that unless it is an emergency, he thinks that it's for the best that you had banned him from answering to us before our eleventh birthday!"

"And why did I?" Sirius asked cheekily.

"Because you didn't want us to turn into spoiled brats like Uncle Sev likes to say," Reggie smirked.

"Exactly," Sirius nodded. "Besides, once the potion has vanished you cannot unvanish it. Even Kreacher can't get it back. But if you are good and will eat your veggies for lunch, I will assist you in preparing a pain relieving potion after lunch."

"Dad!" Regulus moaned mockingly. "We are sooo over the age when you could threaten us with vegetables."

"And yet you and your sister are mortally offended when you have spinach on your plates," Sirius chuckled. "Come on, let's get to the kitchen. Is Mum or Uncle Moony at home?"

"Both are still at Hogwarts," Regulus explained. "Hagrid had an accident with something in the forest. He'll be fine but Madam Pomfrey put him on strict bed rest until tomorrow. Uncle Moony went to help him after we promised that we won't try to take over the world until you or Mum come home. Mum was supposed to have some private tutoring after classes today - unless she can fake a mammoth migraine."

"Do you want to help me prepare a salad?" Sirius asked curiously.

"As long as it doesn't have any spinach…" Miranda started quickly.

Sirius smirked as he watched how both kids bounded into the kitchen cheerfully, pulling vegetables, bowls and plates from the pantry and cabinets, and started placing them on the table.

Screw promotions, titles, a vault full of gold and a manor so big that they could play Quidditch inside the house if they wanted, these two and Mirzam were all that mattered to him. Well there were other friends, like Moony, Frank and Alice, even Snape, and their friendship was important to him, but not as much as his little family. Of course he still had some distant relatives who came over once in a while, but what really mattered was currently busying itself with arranging vegetables on the table.

And to think that he owed the source of his happiness to a potion, a blood adoption potion to be exact. Yes, Regulus and Miranda were adopted, separately, even if the world believed that both were Sirius's and Mirzam's biological children, and those who saw the kids on more than one occasion were able to tell that brother and sister were inseparable despite their age difference.

There were also those who simply knew the truth, and of those , only a few people, those who had witnessed the dramatic fight for Harry Potter's life, knew the true identity of one Regulus Sirius Black, aged ten at the moment and about to turn eleven in a few weeks.

As for Miranda … It had all started from Mirzam's idea that it would be too dangerous for them to have their own biological children, not to mention how dangerous it might be for the kids to be born to a mother who happened to be a werewolf. Immediately after they had adopted Harry, Mirzam went on two years' worth sabbatical, and around Easter, during dinner, suggested another adoption, this time of a magical orphan. They didn't need to look very far for one because Dumbledore and McGonagall had helped them eagerly, and in a matter of two months they had found an orphaned Muggle-born infant in some orphanage in the country.

The potion for blood adoption took care of the rest; not that either Regulus or Miranda really needed them on an appearance level because both were born with black-hair. In Regulus's case the potion turned him into Sirius's exact replica except for slightly curly hair, which was purely a Mirzam feature, and it also made his original bright green eyes more of a greyish green. Miranda on the other hand was a mini Mirzam, but with slightly wavy hair from Sirius, and the potion only make her lightly blue eyes darken to stormy blue.

Ever since Miranda had learned how to walk she and Regulus had been practically inseparable, which in the end always lead to funny situations, like one time he had had to punish six years old Regulus for climbing up the bookcase, and Miranda refused to talk with him until Sirius had punished her as well.

These two were always together, it didn't matter if it was the lab, the kitchen, the library or yet another hiding place, in which they played hide and seek with their parents. Making them sleep in separate rooms was pure horror, and they almost always ended in Sirius's and Mirzam's bed anyway , \(at least until Regulus was seven and Miranda was five – later they only ended in their parents' bed on Sunday mornings). As far as Sirius could tell, he and Mirzam should be slowly bracing themselves for a very whinny and moody Miranda when Regulus went off to Hogwarts.

He was thinking about it while he was slicing tomatoes, not that Miranda or Regulus didn't know how to do it, when Miranda asked suddenly.

"Dad? How are babies made?"

Instead of answering he yelped in shock and the blade of the knife slid over his left forefinger.

"Randa, we already talked about it," he said uncomfortably while he busied himself with clearing and healing his wounded finger.

"Well," Miranda said simply. "We talked about me and Reggie. But Anne from number five says that children are brought by a stork. She looked at me in funny way when I told her what you told us."

"I doubt that Anne was adopted," Sirius mumbled.

"Why wouldn't she be?" Miranda asked surprised. "Isn't it how it works, Dad?"

"No," Sirius shook his head and resumed slicing tomatoes, "That's not how it works Randa. Most of the time children are made just like I told you, I mean all children are made that way…" he started getting slightly nervous. "But some of them are unwanted or have parents who died or are unable to take care of them for various reasons … that's why they are put up for adoption, so other people who are unable to have children on their own can give them a new family."

"So we are special?" Miranda asked curiously.

"I wouldn't say that," Sirius smirked. "You two are one of a kind and I wouldn't trade you for any other children. Every child is special to their parents."

"Do you know what happened to my mother and father so they had to give me up for adoption?" Miranda asked, suddenly she sounded slightly nervous, "I thought that since we celebrate our adoption then perhaps we could…"

Sirius sighed heavily and scratched his stubble before he answered, "What became of your father I don't know. All I know is that he was a soldier and that he was shot, but exactly where he's buried I don't have even faintest idea. Your mother on the other hand was dying from cancer and only lived long enough to give birth to you and spend the first few days with you, before she died and you went to an orphanage. She is buried at St Ives in Cornwall, we might go there tomorrow if you want."

"And Reggie's parents?" Miranda asked curiously.

"Randa!" Regulus hissed. "There is no need…"

"I rather not talk about it," Sirius grimaced grimly. "Of course you have a right to know, Reggie, but for me this subject is still very painful despite how much time had passed since then, and I don't want you to feel hurt because your biological parents were and still remain a pair of arseholes who didn't give a damn about those who mattered…"

"It doesn't matter," Regulus admitted as he approached Sirius and wrapped his smaller arms around Sirius's neck. "I have you and Mum, and Randa. You are all I ever knew and all I ever want to know. They don't matter."

He never felt more proud of Reggie, or more guilty, regardless of everything James and Lily had done, Regulus still deserved to know the truth, if not the whole truth then at least a part of it.

"There was an accident and you were gravely injured and sick… your parents …" even after nearly a decade it still hurt like hell, "made their choice."

"But I lived," Regulus mumbled.

"Because of Uncle Severus and his potion. Even then I had to admit that, it was an insane idea, but for me it mattered little, even if it was insane. All that mattered was that his plan gave you a small chance for survival which you wouldn't have had with the other option," Sirius explained. "Without the blood adoption potion and its side effect you would have died in my arms in a matter of hours. You also could have died because of too strong a side effect from the potion, but the only choice I had was seeing you dying or giving you a minimal chance to survive."

"So I'm your private Boy-Who-Lived?" Regulus chuckled.

"As I said, you are one of a kind," Sirius smiled at him. "If you really want to meet your biological parents…"

"I thought that the blood adoption potion makes one a child of the adoptive parents on a biological level too," Regulus said dryly.

"You know what I mean," Sirius rolled his eyes. "You are just like Mirzam, if logic would defy gravity then you two would defy gravity."

Regulus beamed at him before he said, "Maybe some other day Dad, when I will be old enough to hex them properly."

"Reg…" Sirius started.

"Just once, Dad," Regulus pleaded. "Nothing nasty, only horribly embarrassing."

"Okay," Sirius smirked and then he added, "Merlin knows that I would take every opportunity to humiliate your father."

"I'm fine with it," Regulus shrugged. "They didn't want me; their loss."

"You are fine with it, I'm not," Sirius shook his head. "I cannot justify your father's actions, because he had done not only something I didn't expect him to do but also something I would never do. Then again if it wasn't for that we wouldn't be talking because you would be dead."

"See Dad, logic in fact defied gravity," Regulus smirked. "I'm glad that I have you, Mum and Randa."

"You will change your mind when Randa starts flirting with your friends from school," Sirius chuckled. "Your Uncle, and also your namesake, in his fourth year tried to ask your Mum for a date just to get on my nerves."

"But you forgave him. You named Reggie after him," Miranda said curiously.

"For that he was forgiven," Sirius confirmed with a sigh. "We were only twenty months apart and he was year below me at Hogwarts, in a different house but still a year below me. He was troubled boy, and I wasn't the best brother around… Your mother says that I picked his name for you because I had a subconscious need to make amends between us even though he died before you were born, let alone adopted. The fact that his name simply fit you was less important than the need to make things right … or so your mother says."

"And Miranda?" Regulus asked curiously.

"Something your Mum came up with," Sirius answered. "Mostly because I was suggesting naming Randa after your Mum, but she said that she wouldn't doom any other child with her name. Finally we settled on your Mum's second name, Mira but during the baptising ceremony your Mum extended Mira to Miranda, and bless her for that."

In the meantime both kids had climbed into his lap, each seated on one leg, and wrapped their arms around him. It wasn't a very comfortable position, or at least very favourable to his knees, but he didn't care about that.

"Can we go to the park after lunch?" Miranda asked suddenly.

**R. B.**

From early childhood he was told that curiosity killed the cat but at the same time he was also informed that satisfaction brought it back. In his family it meant that it was fine to be curious as long as you took necessary precautions against getting hurt or killed.

Frankly being Sirius Black's only son was reason alone to be curious because there were a lot of unsaid things about his father's past; for example, his Dad's family and other relatives.

Reggie knew few of his relatives\, for example Grandpa Archie, actually it was great-grandfather Arcturus but since neither Dad's or Mum's fathers were alive at the point when Regulus could remember them, Arcturus had dubbed himself as Reggie's and Randa's grandfather. He was funny man, though he became slightly deaf and slightly blind with age, but both Regulus and Miranda listened to him eagerly when he was talhing of his adventures from the times when he worked in a dragon reserve in Romania - to his father's utmost horror.

And if one talked about Grandpa Archie then one could not do so without mentioning Aunt Lucretia.. Again, she was actually Reggie's and Randa's grand Aunt, but she was a funny cross between a Grandmother and Aunt. She had a house in the country where Reggie and Randa always spent a week if not two of their summer holidays, mostly causing utter chaos.

There was also Aunt Cassiopeia, more specifically great-grand Aunt Cassiopeia, great-Grandpa's Pollux's younger sister, and who was more welcoming than the man himself. For some reason Pollux avoided Dad and Mum and in consequence Regulus and Miranda, like a plague, which always led to funny things happening at family parties. While Pollux was alive Aunt Cassiopeia stayed with him, but barely a week after his funeral Aunt Cassie packed her bags, claimed that she was taking her dream trip around the world, and that they shouldn't expect her on English soil before Christmas.

But the most funny, and actually the closest in age to Regulus and Randa was Dora, their Dad's second cousin. Dora was about to graduate from Hogwarts in a few weeks, and nothing was known of her choice for a career – much to Dad's displeasure. According to what Mum told Dad, Dora could become practically anyone with the courses she had taken: starting from Auror (a suggestion which earned Dad's frown and a comment that no matter how much he loved Dora, she was a complete klutz), through Healer (this earned Uncle Sev's comment that Dora's strongest subjects in Potions were poisons and antidotes for them, again nothing really promising) or a Curse-breaker (this earned Mum's comment that while Dora was fine with European runes, other fields of Mum's specialisation and Dora's knowledge in them might lead to Dora being strangled by a Mummy in a pyramid, again something which the family didn't want). Dora herself hadn't said a word about what she wanted to do in the future, to everyone's utmost annoyance.

Regulus himself knew what he wanted to do in the future. Ever since he had witnessed what his Dad did during an attack at Diagon Alley when he was six, he had known that he wanted to be an Auror like his father. He didn't plan to inform his Dad about his choice anytime soon because while he had been informed that he was really good in the subjects he needed to become an Auror , he also knew that his dreams about a future career might change.

Knowing which subjects were required for each career was one of the good things about having a Mum as Hogwarts professor and being home-schooled by specialists who were the best in their fields. Specialists like Uncle Sev or Uncle Moony, or like Professor McGonagall, who liked to come over every now and then, and always spared a moment to show Regulus and Miranda some special trick in Transfiguration which she taught at Hogwarts, not to mention Dad and his talent in that field…Yes, Regulus knew that his dreams about his future career might change.

Having a great family didn't mean that he wasn't curious about the relatives he didn't meet. There was Dad's cousin and Aunt Andromeda's older sister Bellatrix whom Dad rarely talked about, and if he did he always spoke of her with a disgusted expression and scorn in his voice. Aunt Andromeda's other sister, Narcissa, earned a lesser disgust and scorn, as well as comments that she wasn't evil, just a stupid bigot. Her family was described as an arsehole (for her husband) and the little arsehole in training (her son).

Regulus's Grandmother was a subject which Dad avoided at all costs and so did Dad's other relatives. From what Regulus knew, she was alive when he and later Miranda were born, and was actually still alive when Regulus was five and old enough to remember hushed conversations, and once an old woman had visited them when Regulus and his family still lived at Hogwarts in Mum's quarters. He remembered the disgust on her face when she ordered them to leave the room. Not so long after that his family had moved to the house where they were living now.

The house was gigantic and big enough for Regulus and Miranda to chase each other around it on their brooms ( but only when Dad was at work, Mum was at Hogwarts and Uncle Moony who lived with them was taking his afternoon nap). At the beginning there had been some more rooms into which he and Randa hadn't been allowed to go without having an adult with them. He'd learned that there actually was a very good reason for that ban when he had sneaked curiously into Grandmother's bedroom and was chased all the way down to the kitchen by his Grandmother's underwear, it had taken Regulus weeks to get over the slight fear which that incident had induced.

With time there were more and more places to which both he and Randa were allowed to go, like the lab, the library, the dining-room on the ground floor (though they almost always ate their meals in the kitchen downstairs) and Regulus's personal favourite: the study in which Dad spent some time at nights when he thought that Regulus and Randa were sleeping.

From Grandpa Archie he learned that the study had belonged to Regulus's grandfather, Orion, who died before Regulus was born.

The room itself was half in size of the library but where books were concerned the number of them could rival the library .. It also had an enormous mahogany desk with a very comfortable armchair by it and an even more comfortable armchair and couch in the centre of it.

When he was younger Regulus had liked to imagine Dad or himself answering his letters at the desk in the glow of candlelight and when he was seven he worked up his courage to sit himself at the desk and rummage through the drawers.

And, as he was informed on numerous occasions, curiosity killed the cat.

In one of the drawers he encountered his Dad's letters. Surprisingly, when he started to read them, he learned that Dad had been writing to Grandpa Orion, who, according to reliable sources, was dead. What Regulus couldn't understand was the small thing that all of them were addressed to Grandpa Orion but not even one had been sent.

Under the pretext of seeing one letter on the floor in the study when he was playing hide and seek with Randa, he asked his Dad about the letter and learned that Dad used them as a form of therapy; of finally being able to tell his father things he wanted to say, even if Grandpa Orion were dead and unable to answer Dad's letters. That's why the letters were never sent.

Few weeks later Regulus got an idea and tied the first letter from the pile (the oldest one) to Orpheus, the family's snowy owl's leg, and watched how it soared in an unknown direction. To his surprise Orpheus came back in the morning (after Dad had already left for the ministry) without the letter.

Since then Regulus always sent Dad's letter to Grandpa Orion at the end of each month, and always Orpheus came back empty-handed, more specifically empty-legged, since owls didn't have hands.

What Regulus didn't calculate was that at some point of time Dad would have stopped stop writing letters to Grandpa Orion, and a month ago after Miranda's birthday, Regulus sent the last letter to Grandpa Orion. Since then he had been worrying about what he should do when the time to send Grandpa another letter arrived.

Finally, this morning this time arrived. It was 31st May, Miranda's Adoption Day (kind of second birthday which became a tradition in their family as well as an excuse for the adults to give them gifts) was tomorrow and Regulus still didn't have a letter for Grandpa Orion.

So after Uncle Moony was summoned to Hogwarts, and after repeated promises that he and Randa wouldn't blow the house up or try to take over the world, Regulus walked into the study and seated himself at the desk.

"Why you are so gloomy?" Randa asked curiously as she curled herself up on the other armchair with her favourite book in her lap: 'Anne of Green Gables'.

"I don't have a letter for Grandpa Orion," Regulus answered grimly.

Randa looked at him pointedly, wordlessly asking for an explanation.

"… so you see I cannot stop sending the letters," he finished his explanation.

"Why you don't write a letter yourself?" Randa asked curiously. "Dad doesn't but you can."

"You think?" Regulus asked curiously.

"I don't see a reason why not," Randa shrugged. "I mean the letters don't come back, do they? So obviously Grandpa has to be alive even if Dad believes that he is dead. Perhaps Grandpa got into trouble and must be in hiding but since Dad never sent a letter…"

"Yeah," Regulus nodded. "That seems to be good explanation. Do you want to write to him too?"

"Sure!" Randa beamed at him.

They spent some time at writing the letter until they were pleased with the results. It read:

_Dear Mr Orion Black,_

_You don't know me but for the last four years it was I who send you Dad's letters. I'm his son Regulus and my sister Miranda who is helping me write this letter to you. I think that Dad mentioned something about me and Randa in one of his letters but I would like to tell you about us if he didn't._

_I'm ten years old and going to turn eleven on 1st August. Miranda turned nine last month and tomorrow we will celebrate her Adoption day, mine is in November. I was told that I look like mini version of my Dad, aside from the curly hair which I got from Mum. My eyes are grey but not as grey as Dad's. They are greyish green and green when I get angry (that's what I have been told because I don't actually remember getting angry lately. Disappointed yes, but not angry). Miranda looks like Mum, aside from the flat hair, which she got from Dad. Her eyes are dark blue and close to Mum's violet (on a stretch, actually turn violet when she is very sad, like when her cat, Fluffy died)._

_Our Mum is a Professor at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She teaches Ancient Runes and has worked there since before we were born and took a sabbatical when we were very little. Dad works as an Auror, still, he is Deputy Commissioner of the Auror Office, junior to Commissioner Scrimgeour who is a bit intimidating and amongst the things they have in common is the belief that Minister Fudge shouldn't have been elected as Minister and their utmost desire to drown Ms Umbridge who is the Minister's undersecretary and is responsible for cutting the number of trainers for Aurors amongst the other things which make Dad really not liking her._

_We live in the manor where Dad grew up. It's gigantic and when no one is looking we like to fly on our brooms inside the house – please don't tell Dad about it. We really do no harm and haven't broken anything (neither ourselves or any other thing)._

_May I ask you a question Mr Black? Are you in trouble? Because if you are you can tell Dad and I'm sure that he will help you._

_I know that you were probably expecting a letter from Dad and might not be happy with ours. If I had a letter for you from Dad's I would send it to you but last month I sent the last of Dad's letters and Dad hasn't written anything else to you._

_I hope that this letter will find you in good health and that you are safe._

_With love,_

_Your grandson and your granddaughter_

_Regulus and Miranda Black_

_P. S. Miranda enclosed Kreacher's toffee – it's mind-blowing._

_R & M Black_

They dispatched Orpheus with the letter and then spent the rest of the day in the lab, trying to make their potion work, until their Dad came home. They came back to the lab with their Dad after lunch and managed to prepare quite a good pain relieving potion (at least according to the book).

The rest of the evening they spent playing various muggle games with Mum and Dad. All in all they went through another good day.

The last thought which Regulus had when he was tucked into his bed by his Dad and kissed goodnight by his Mum was that perhaps Grandpa Orion would write them back.

Next morning, like all birthday and adoption day mornings, was unlike normal mornings. Miranda was up before anyone else and woke them up soon after. She was very eager to visit her mother's grave before the party, and she ensured that her parents and brother knew that.

Personally Regulus was convinced that if she allowed them to spend another hour sleeping it wouldn't make them late for the party, but there are certain people and circumstances with which you cannot argue and Randa jumping on his bed happened to be one of them.

The morning itself was slightly chilly for the first day of June but his Mum prepared hot chocolate for them and they happily got into the car. Regulus was only slightly disappointed that his Dad didn't take his motorcycle, but his disappointment vanished as soon as they left London.

The weather was fabulous and by the time they arrived at St Ives the sun was shining brightly, and thanks to a gentle breeze from the sea, didn't feel too hot.

They ate a second breakfast before visiting the small graveyard on the outskirts of the town. Miranda eagerly told her mother's grave how happy she was that she was adopted, and that her Mum didn't need to worry about her because she was safe and happy with Mu,, Dad and Reggie.

The next two hours they spent wandering around the town, mostly admiring the bay and the promenade, something with which raised-in-London-Regulus and Miranda were unfamiliar. They also managed to get their Dad to promise that they would spend part of his vacation in July in Grandpa's Orion cottage in South France, a spot which had a beautiful beach.

When they were on their way back to London, Randa decided to drag her family to an amusement park, and since it was her holiday no one protested, not that anyone protested when a suggestion to go to amusement park ever came up.

They took three rides on the roller coaster before Randa dragged their Mum to the Haunted House while their Dad told them that he and Reggie would meet them by the cotton candy stand in an hour.

What Reggie didn't expect was to be sitting at the table near the fast food stand and handed a juicy cheeseburger and a big cup of orange soda. His Dad seated himself on the other side of the table with a cheeseburger of his own and cup of soda which reminded Regulus strongly of coffee.

"Is there something you know which I don't but should be informed about?" his Dad asked suddenly.

"What you mean?" Regulus mumbled while he tried to think what his Dad could be referring to. It hit him really hard: the letter. "Are you really angry?" Reggie asked nervously.

"I'm rather disappointed," his Dad sighed heavily. "I know you Reggie and I know that you meant well but…" he paused and sighed even more heavily. "You are lucky that I had Orpheus for a very long time and that after my father died he was trained to bring me everything which bore my father's name on it. I cannot berate you for invasion of my private correspondence since I do the same for a living."

"But…" Regulus started.

Dad wasn't angry. Really having Dad angry at him was too simple a thing. Neither his Mum or Dad ever got angry with him or Miranda (and it wasn't as if he and Randa hadn't spent a lot of time at trying). That doesn't mean that they couldn't get angry at someone else. Regulus had witnessed his father's rage when he was really angry at someone else and sometimes he wished that his Mum or Dad simply yelled at him, punished him and got it over with.

Alas he wasn't that lucky. Of course he knew that there were some children who were regularly yelled at and faced with corporeal punishment on a daily basis and that they weren't lucky. Regulus issues were with how his parents dealt with him when he was causing trouble.

They never got angry at him or Miranda. They were always disappointed, hurt or at least extremely displeased. They never yelled, even worse, they talked even more quietly than usual in the same calm tone which never failed to make Regulus feel extremely guilty over his antics, and left him with desire to crawl under a rock and die so he wouldn't disappoint them … until next time at least.

There was one horrible time when he was five and he and his Mum went shopping and he threw a tantrum in the shop over some super toy the name of which for the life of him he couldn't recall later. He was simply ignored until he calmed down and was asked if he was finished because his Mum wanted to move to another department to buy new towels. Of course that comment resulted in another tantrum from his side and a scream that he hated Mum and wished that she wasn't his Mum. Mum only turned on her heel and vanished behind the shelf.

He never felt more horrible and angry at himself when he turned the corner and saw that Mum wasn't anywhere to be seen. For about a minute he told himself that it was all for the best. But then he remembered the way she had smiled at him when he'd showed her his first picture, or how she had beamed at him when he'd read his first word on his own without making a mistake, or how nice her hair smelt when she bowed her head to kiss him on his forehead for the night… not to mention his Dad or Randa or Uncle Moony or Fluffy, Randa's cat, or Orpheus and Quack, the dog which Dad had brought home few days earlier.

He started crying her name, feeling the tears running down his face as he searched for his Mum amongst the shelves. He was remembering how both good and bad he'd felt when he'd finally found her and was wrapped in her arms, happy because he found her and she still wanted him and bad that he almost lost his family over a stupid toy.

Now he was older and more familiar with the words psychological manipulation or more closely with the aspect of guilt tripping. He knew what Dad was planning to do to him and he would prefer him to just get to the point.

"I'm sorry," Regulus mumbled.

"No, you aren't sorry," his Dad shook his head. "You feel guilty but not sorry and anyway that isn't the point I'm getting at, Reggie."

"If it isn't for invasion of your privacy then what it is about?" Regulus asked with a sigh.

"Let me finish the speech, it works better on visuals," his Dad sighed. "When you sent the first letter I was surprised. but I reckoned that you meant well and didn't want to cause harm. Even after that I could understand that you needed to feel helpful and that was the way you showed it. Can you tell me what I'm getting at?"

"Sending a letter on my own without your permission or even informing you," Regulus sighed.

"Exactly," his Dad nodded. "That's why I'm saying that you were lucky that Orpheus was trained to carry my father's mail to me after his death. Do you imagine what could happen to you or Randa if I hadn't been the one who was receiving your letters? What could happen if the person who was receiving your letters was a pervert? Do you understand in how big a danger you might have placed yourself and your sister?"

Now that his Dad pointed it out he understood and he felt really horrible about it. He took a deep breath and braced himself for the sentenced punishment.

He was surprised when Dad didn't say a word and busied himself with his cheeseburger.

"And my punishment?" Regulus asked timidly. "You gave me a dressing down but haven't said anything about a punishment."

"You are the only kid I know who asks to be punished," Dad sighed and put his cheeseburger on the table. "I think that the knowledge that you could place you and your sister in danger alone is a deserved punishment, Reggie."

"But…" Regulus started.

"I don't want you to place your life or your sister's life in jeopardy. Sure Randa is her own person and she should know it as well, I'm not asking you to stalk her to ensure that she won't get hurt or place herself in danger… It's something impossible to do actually, not to mention that Randa would be extremely displeased if you did so. But I want you to understand that as her older brother, the more responsible one, I expect you to be smart enough to recognise the danger into which you might place yourself and/or your sister. Again, I'm not asking you to mount a dragon and rush to her rescue, even if I know that you will do so anyway. In fact you are only allowed to do that when you really cannot contact either me or your Mum or any other adult who you or me and Mum trust," Dad said pointedly.

"I'm sorry," Regulus whispered.

"Now I can see that you are, Reggie," Dad smiled at him. "You are welcome. So, after the cheeseburger, do you fancy getting a ride in the cars we passed on our way here?"

They took three rides on the cars, having fun at bumping them into each other and other people, before Regulus dragged Dad to the mirror cabinet.

They barely managed to get home before the first guests arrived.

Regulus was having great fun with Randa as well as with his best friends, Neville and Hermione, before they were sent to bed they had played practically every game which came into their minds and was found at home.

He was happy that Randa's adoption day was a good excuse to have Hermione and Neville stay over at their home but when Randa, Hermione and Neville fell asleep in their sleeping bags (because Dad found it the perfect excuse to erect a tent in the middle of Randa's bedroom) no matter how hard he tried, he wasn't able to fall asleep.

Perhaps a glass of milk would send him to sleep faster, and deciding to not wake Kreacher, he wrapped himself in his bathrobe and went slowly to the kitchen.

He stopped by the door of his Dad's study and was caught by the conversation behind the closed doors.

"I'm not liking it," his Dad said grimly.

"You knew that it was going to happen, Sirius," Mr Longbottom, Neville's Dad, said with a heavy sigh. "That's all they talked about the whole afternoon."

"I know," Dad sighed. "I still don't like it."

"So you will forbid Reggie to go?" Mum asked simply. "Sirius, I know that for you Reggie's and Randa's safety is top priority, but you have to understand that they are just kids. It's perfectly natural for them to want to go to Hogwarts with their year mates. No offence to Neville or Hermione but I sincerely doubt that having just two of them as friends will be great for Reggie."

"None taken," Mrs. Longottom said simply. "Reggie's presence helps Nev with his confidence. He is heaps more confident with Reggie than he is around Augusta, but having more friends around would be great for him too."

"If you are going where I think that you are going then my answer is no, Alice," Dad hissed. "Neville is your son not mine, but as far as Reggie or Randa are concerned I won't be encouraging them to make friends with anyone with the surname Potter."

"I would like to see that," Uncle Severus snorted. "Since both of them are exactly the same age as yours, especially if they should end up in the same house and forced to share a dormitory with them."

"One can simply hope," Dad snorted. "As you see, the answer to your other question Alice is and will remain. 'no'."

"You are still Charlus's godfather and you could have been Jasmine's," Mrs Longbottom said simply.

"I stopped being Charlus's godfather when Harry died. That's why I never became Jasmine's godfather. James Potter is a self-centred arsehole who showed his true colours when his other son was dying!" his Dad spat. "Can you imagine sitting by the deathbed of a child who is too young to understand words like death or agony? Can you understand how painful it was for me to watch how Harry's life was slipping away? I can describe to you every shudder of pain, every tear which fell from his eyes… the exact moment in which life left his body. I was there, James wasn't!"

"Still…" Mrs Longbottom started.

"The Potters are friends for good times, for fun," his Dad continued sourly. "But in times and places where friendship matters the most, they aren't there. I don't want my children to be disappointed because of coming into association with the Potters. End of story."

Regulus nodded absentmindedly. His Dad's explanation was good if a bit unfair in his opinion. He had been told many, many times how much like his father he looks but he also knew that he was not his birth father. The Potter kids didn't necessarily have to be as bad as their parents were, and animosity between his Dad and Mr Potter in the family was as legendary as their former friendship. Reggie understood his father's motivation and while he agreed with it, he decided to give the Potter kids a chance on their own when the time arrived.

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**Awaiting criticism - like always. I'm replying as long as you leave me your email or you log in while reviewing. Bring my ego down ;)**

_Chapter edited: 2010/07/14_**  
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	3. Chapter 3: Disturbances and Letters

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Harry Potter or anything what you can recognize from the books. I do however own the plot of this story but I don't have profits because of it unless you count improving my English as a profit.

**So** **_read, enjoy and review (because I love to read your criticism and as long as you are logged in or I have your email I'm answering to your questions)._**

Thanks to **omega13a** for beta-reading and helpful suggestions.

**Happy reading.**

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**Chapter three: Disturbances and Letters.**

**S. B.**

They timed their return from France just in time for Neville's birthday party at the Longbottom house in Kent. Practically they arrived at the party straight from France, with small detour via London where they dropped off their luggage, picked Hermione up and Apparated to some place which looked like promising beginning for a good party.

And immediately he started to regret showing up. He should have knew that Alice's nagging questions concerning the Potters had a deeper meaning. At the same time he admitted to himself that he was slightly wrong.

He knew that Alice had planned to invite the Weasley kids, especially the youngest boy of the bunch, Ronald and possibly his younger sister, Ginevra but he didn't expect Alice to be so bold as to invite over the Potters. Clearly Alice had a death wish.

He spotted smaller version of James standing with one red headed boy in the corner of the garden and immediately looked around searching for James himself. If he hexed the asshole he might as well spoil Neville's birthday (not something he was eager to do because he knew that Alice would kill him for that and that Mirzam will follow her actions soon after).

"You don't need to worry," he heard Frank's quiet voice. "Charlus and Jasmine ended here as a bonus pack from the Weasley bunch. Apparently they were allowed to stay with the Weasleys while their parents took their cousin to visit boy's other aunt."

"James was an only child," Sirius mumbled.

"Lily wasn't," Frank coughed.

"Right, Tuney-ish Tuna," Sirius coughed. "How come?"

"Car crash, six months ago," Frank said quietly. "The boy was with a baby-sitter when it happened. They took him because Lily decided that his other aunt was unfit."

"Why?" he asked curiously.

"You know that Neville is a bit pudgy?" Frank asked. "Good cooking and Neville's spending his free time in the garden and greenhouse. Dudley is exactly the same age as our boys and he is the size of two Nevilles and Regulus and Charlus put together. The aunt in question is as wide as Alice, Mirzam, Lily and Molly combined."

"Inappropriate household," Sirius nodded slowly. "Wizard?"

"Muggle like his parents. No offence in that direction. As for me the idea of taking the boy was extremely unwise mostly because of that, as well as the other reason," Frank muttered. "Watch Charlus or Jasmine or both carefully for few minutes and you will realise."

Sirius looked at him questioning but he received no answers.

So he settled himself to watch the Potter kids from various spots, something hard to do in a Weasley infested garden. Molly's twins were even worse than the Marauders at their best combined and that was saying something. Ginevra, the youngest Weasley child was following Charlie like a puppy, while Ronald appeared to be at ease with the boy. More surprising was Jasmine, unique mix of James's and Lily's features with James's jet-black but wavy like Lily's hair, Lily's green eyes and slightly James's cheekbones, Lily's nose, lips and smile. Jasmine almost as soon as they arrived made a beeline to Miranda and Hermione and dragged both to the opposite corner of the garden as her brothers.

"Perv," he heard from behind.

"I'm only doing what Frank suggested, honey," he answered without turning his head.

"He suggested you to ogle the kids?" Mirzam asked surprised.

"I'm not ogling. I'm watching the spawns of Satan in their natural habitat," Sirius retorted without tearing his eyes from the kids.

"About that," Mirzam sighed. "Miranda, Jasmine and Hermione have become friends and formed a secret sisterhood."

"Ginevra over there didn't?" Sirius asked curiously.

"According to Jasmine, who seems to be a reliable source in that regard, Ginevra has a mammoth crush on Charlus and because of that is absolutely not fun company. Since neither Randa or Hermione appear to be bothered by Charlus' fancy title Jasmine practically adopted them," Mirzam explained.

"And the boy himself?" Sirius asked.

"Ginny's crush creeps him out, according to his sister but since Ron is the only friend he has, because his older brothers aren't very nice company and by nice I mean safe from constantly poking fun at everyone, Charlus is reluctant to tell her to sod off. Again Jasmine's opinion," Mirzam said simply.

"Jasmine is very straightforward," Sirius said curiously.

"She also hates being called Jasmine," Mirzam added. "Prefers being called Minnie."

"I wonder why," Sirius snickered.

"She also vehemently abhors her cousin, who according to her is a real menace who can consume during one meal what she and Charlie consume during whole day," Mirzam added.

"So I heard," Sirius nodded. "The whole idea of keeping Petunia's son is amusing. From what I remember she abhorred magic and somehow I cannot picture her and her husband at family lunches on Sunday with the traitors."

"Because they didn't take place," Mirzam shrugged. "Again Jasmine. One day mum and dad left home and came back with Dudley. I wish they didn't and that he had stayed with the other aunt."

"Thankfully it's not our problem," Sirius snorted and stopped watching the kids.

"For now," Mirzam muttered.

"You know something I don't?" Sirius asked sceptically as he looked down at his wife.

"I just see more than you," Mirzam answered with a grimace. "And somehow I don't think that Kingsley Shacklebolt is heading this way carrying good news. He also looks like he is searching for someone more competent than a bunch of kids."

He turned his head in that direction and something that stole his breath. During all these years he never saw Shack looking so grim.

"Try to distract the kids from looking our way. I will find Frank," he told her.

**R. B.**

Being in France for a few weeks was great, though the best thing was that his dad wasn't on call. He had an absurd amount of free time and an even more absurd level of pent up energy which he needed to use and so he did.

After first four days his mum, Reggie, Randa and their uncle Moony rebelled against his dad and his crazy activities and he was sent for a two day trip with some fishermen whom his mum managed to persuade to take his dad for short lesson in marine life and when dad came back from his trip he was a bit more calmer.

All in all it was a very good vacation but Regulus just couldn't wait to come back to England, talk with Hermione about France, spend time in the garden with Neville, play Quidditch inside the house and preparing himself (and Neville) for the coming school year.

They arrived at Neville's birthday party practically straight from France and Regulus curiously managed to inspect most of the guests.

Aside from Mrs and Mr Longbottom and their extended family (counting in several aunts and uncles and of course Neville's grandma) there were other families in the garden where the general party was located (the location was planned in advantage for very good, sunny weather).

There were the Diggorys. Regulus more heard of than seen the family, Mrs Diggory along with Cedric spent a lot of time at travelling around the world due to her job in the DIMC and Cedric's state of health which had suffered after a very nasty case of Gavain's Disease to which Cedric had fallen victim four years ago. Summers, when Cedric wasn't at Hogwarts were spent in various locations around the Europe, unless the Quidditch League had an interesting season.

Regulus himself genuinely liked the family, even if he didn't see them very often.

Then there were various families whom Regulus knew through his dad, adults rather than children though he saw Susan Bones once or twice when Mr Bones visited his dad and brought her along but Susan was quickly kidnapped by Randa and they were playing girly games, which Reggie refused to play in presence of another girl.

Susan's companion clinging to her side was most probably Hannah Abbot. That one Regulus meet through his mum because Mrs Abbot was his mum's dormmate but Randa monopolized the girl within two minutes of her the arrival.

The only other kid whom Regulus had meet personally was Ernie McMillan, a very distant cousin several times removed and only because dad was arranging an investigation in favour of Mr McMillan and Ernie had been brought along. Ernie seemed a good kid, if not too pompous around that time. For now he was talking with the girls and seemed to have fun even if he tried his best to look very proper.

Once done with a quick inspection of the guests he knew he had managed to drag Neville away from the bigger crowd into a secluded corner to ask Neville about the other guests.

"Thank Merlin you saved me from them," Neville mumbled when they seated themselves on a very comfortable bench between the bushes from where they could see the others without being seen.

"You're welcome, Nev," Regulus grinned. "I managed to recognise the Abbots, the Bones, the Diggorys, the McMillans and several of our dads' associates. But a few of them I don't recognise."

"You mean that sea of red scattered around the garden," Neville commented sourly. "I don't know what mum had in mind when she introduced them."

Regulus looked curiously at his friend.

"The red-heads are the Weasleys, not very close family or associates of neither of our dads or mums. In fact from what I managed to overhear your father hates Mrs Weasley with a passion of a woman scorned, according to mum. The reason is unknown to me but from what dad says it has a lot to do with what our parents had done during the war, though I have no idea what it could be. Anyway with Mrs and Mr Weasley had arrived their children. Percy, a male version of Hermione only thrice as bad when it comes to school stuff and far more pompous. Then there are the twins, George and Fred, no one knows which is which but they are a lot like your dad on a sugar high, only worse. That girl in the bushes…"

"The one glaring daggers at Randa, Hermione and that little black-haired girl?" Regulus asked curiously.

"The one and only," Neville confirmed. "That's Ginevra, though she prefers to be called Ginny. Those two boys who are standing so close to the girls are Ronald Weasley and Charlus Potter. Both are our age and the reason why Ginny is glaring daggers at the girls is that Charlus is giving more attention to them rather than her even if he is so shy that he is unable to approach them."

"Charlus?" Regulus asked with a smirk. "Not the Boy-Who-Lived?"

"I was worried about it when they came but he acts as if all this attention directed at him was making him uncomfortable. He is actually polite and very easy to talk to, if a bit shy," Neville explained just as Regulus looked at him. "I know, I know," he smiled. "I'm not the most outgoing person, but Charlus is as bad as me if not worse. Especially around Ginny."

"She is giving him creeps?" Regulus asked.

"Theresa?" Neville snickered.

"I was six!" Regulus groaned. "She was scary. Good thing that they moved to United States."

"Yes because there are only a few occasions when you are scared enough to use me as a human shield," Neville chuckled. "Come on. Let's get you properly introduced to them."

They left the bushes and slowly approached the girls. Just as they were few steps away from them Hermione and Randa were dragged away to the opposite side of the garden by the black-haired girl.

That left Neville and Regulus nose to nose with Ronald Weasley and Charlus Potter.

"Reggie, these are Ron Weasley and Charlie Potter," Neville said calmly as he motioned at the boys. "Ron, Charlie, this is my friend, Regulus Black."

Regulus quickly shook his hands with Ron, whom Neville introduced first. Ron seemed a nice enough boy if a bit nervous.

Then Regulus extended his hand to Charlie, who smiled nervously as he extended his own. Just as their hands had touched something weird had happened. Suddenly the world around him blurred and became annoyingly bright, so bright that it was hurting his eyes.

He closed them quickly then he heard voices speaking something.

"I've got to go back, haven't I?" the voice which seemed to belong to a young man had said. In fact it sounded slightly like Regulus's own voice.

"That is up to you," replied an older, more matured voice, his tone was gentle and somehow familiar.

"I've got a choice?"

"Oh yes," the older said. "We are in King's Cross, you say? I think that if you decided not to go back, you would be able to … let's say … board a train."

"And where would it take me?"

"On," the older said simply.

Just as quickly it appeared it had vanished and Regulus dared to open his eyes.

He realised that he was laying on his back because he could see the sky above his head along with the frightened faces of Neville, Ron and Charlie and he could almost swear that he heard Randa's and Hermione's voice in the distance.

"Reggie?" Neville asked nervously. "How are you feeling? Should I call your parents?"

"And who else, the rest of the kids so they could witness an attack of slight light-headiness?" Regulus snorted in annoyance, desperately trying to not make Neville even more alarmed than he already sounded. After all it was Neville's birthday and he didn't want to spoil just because something weird had happened. "I'm fine," he mumbled. "Just a bit dizzy."

"Seriously?" someone, probably Charlie asked nervously. He sounded as if he was desperately trying to sound casual.

Regulus zeroed his gaze at the other boy and realised that Charlie was simply scared. Then he quickly averted his gaze to Randa who was suddenly at his side.

Somehow they had managed to hide it from other kids and the adults and secured themselves in the nice spot in the corner of the garden. Only with annoying red-headed girl glaring daggers at anyone but Charlie and a bit less than at the others, Ron.

"Tell your sister to sod off, Ronald," the black-haired girl huffed.

"I did," Ron said calmly. "Loads of times."

"And?" the girl snorted.

"It didn't work," Ron shrugged. "That's Ginny for you."

"It would be a bit easier if I was allowed to hex her into Christmas. Her glares are giving me the creeps and her petty crush is plainly stupid," the girl huffed, the last part loud enough for hiding in the bushes Ginny to heard.

"You don't have a crush?" Ron asked sceptically.

"On my brother?" the girl rolled her eyes and grimaced, "Eww!"

"Thank you," Charlie snorted.

"You know what I mean," the girl muttered. "She is a boring spoilsport with whom you can talk about one thing, or rather one person. For heaven's sake she wet herself first time she saw you."

"That's Jasmine Potter, Charlie's sister, and she prefers to be called Minnie," Ron explained. "They do it a lot, don't mind it."

"Remember that time when dad's secretary had brought home…" Randa started quickly.

"Finish it and they will never find your body," Regulus hissed. "At least your sister's crush, Ron, stays around her own age. My sister for example had a mammoth crush on…" he was cut off by Randa's hand wrapping around his mouth.

"And I was having a hard time with finding benefits of being an only child," Neville said casually to Hermione, who giggled and nodded quickly.

"You have natural talent for avoiding the times when they start to argue," Hermione shook her head. "I'm not that lucky."

"Neville, it's time for cake!" Mrs Longbottom called out.

It was amazing how single word was able to stop any ongoing quarrels and united all of them around the big table where the cake was placed.

Before Neville blew out the candles on the cake Regulus had a chance to look around the room. His mum and uncle Remus were talking quietly with Mr Diggory but Regulus couldn't locate his dad.

He didn't know if he should be worried or not.

**S. B.**

Frank let him and Shack into his study without any ceremonies but with a shake of his head he refused to stay and Sirius could understand the need to spend some time with his son, especially on his birthday because something was telling him that it would be miracle if he would be able to make it to Regulus's birthday party.

"There has been an attack, Sirius," Kingsley said grimly.

"Serious?" Sirius asked sceptically.

"Two dead, two heavily injured," Kingsley explained.

"You have suspicions, don't you?" Sirius asked quickly.

"A few," Kingsley grimaced. "But right now they are less important than the identities of the victims," he paused and looked at Sirius nervously. "Marge and Dudley Dursley were killed and James and Lily Potter were transported to St Mungo with signs of Post-Cruciatus Stress Disorder."

For a reason he couldn't understand he felt as if he had taken a heavy blow into the stomach and he barely managed to voice his question without losing his breath, "How serious is their condition?"

"Physically, from what I was informed they are heavily injured by curses and hexes which were used on them aside of Cruciatus Curse but while the heavy that damage is reparable and in three, possibly four days they will be as good as before," Kingsley explained nervously. "But Cruciatus…"

"Worse than the Prewetts?" Sirius asked quietly.

"Thankfully no," Kingsley breathed out. "But very bad nevertheless. According to Garner, unlike the Prewetts they have a chance to recover. Still we are talking about months of lethargy and coma. Optimistic scenario for them is about a year before they will be able to recognise the world around them. A more realistic scenario is a few years. After a decade they will be a lost cause."

Sirius grimaced. No matter what had occurred between him and James and Lily they were still good people in some way and their children really didn't deserve losing their parents for a long period of time, possibly even forever.

"Dumbledore wants to talk with you, Sirius," Kingsley said suddenly. "About the kids."

Sirius nodded slowly before he asked, "Do you…"

"That's a bit more complicated," Kingsley grimaced. "Last time we had checked Barty Crouch junior had died in Azkaban nearly eight years ago. Yet, he had been found with a bunch of rascals who committed the murders and the torture. More so, he is confessing. The others are not important. Young Mr Smith, the Yaxleys, old Flint and young Rosier, Evan's cousin if I remember correctly. We caught them pretty quickly, Scrimgeour is grilling them about the others."

"Contact me when you would learn something new," Sirius said quietly. "I will go and see Dumbledore."

Kingsley nodded and quickly left the room. But it had been few minutes before Sirius was able to compose himself enough to Floo to Hogwarts.

He flooed straight to Headmaster's office.

It had been a long while since he saw Albus Dumbledore looking so grim and defeated.

"Lemon drop?" Dumbledore asked tiredly without looking at him.

"Better not, I might choke on it," Sirius grimaced. "Part of me wants to hate them, the other still remembers old times and grieves. For now I cannot decide which one is leading."

"They weren't evil," Dumbledore said quietly. "They were and are human beings, with their desires, fears and choices which had shaped their family," Dumbledore finally looked at him before he added softly, "Or their friends."

"It had been a while," Sirius said grimly.

"It still hurts nevertheless," Dumbledore said quietly. "You, more than Mirzam. She is a text book example of a Ravenclaw. Studious, smart and logical to the bone."

"She dislikes hermetic jokes, you know," Sirius grimaced. "She is just fine in case you ask." He paused and then looked at Dumbledore as he said, "She isn't also the reason you summoned me to your office."

"I had a conversation with Ragnok," Dumbledore said. "He agreed that considering the circumstances it's necessary to treat James and Lily until the moment they will regain their sanity as unable to take care of their children. In their last will and testament James and Lily had stated that in case they will be unable to take care of their children then they should be placed with the only person they trusted with their children's lives."

"Molly?" Sirius snorted.

"You," Dumbledore said quickly.

"Me?" Sirius mumbled.

"Yes, you," Dumbledore confirmed.

"I…" he started. "We can't, Dumbledore," he added quietly. Then he paused before he continued, "The will is probably old and goes to the times when we were still friends…"

"So what else do you propose, Sirius," Dumbledore said pensively. "Don't forget that Charlie is the Boy-Who-Lived."

"And Harry is the Boy-Who-Didn't," Sirius snorted. "We had this conversation before."

"So we did," Dumbledore nodded. "I visited them occasionally."

Sirius shrugged and looked away.

"Never once Voldemort had been brought up," Dumbledore said sourly. "More so I was asked to avoid speaking of old times at all cost. They said that they wanted Charlie and Jasmine to have a happy childhood."

Sirius hadn't said a word.

"But happiness isn't equal to ignorance," Dumbledore continued. "Not even once I heard the kids talk about Harry. When I mentioned his name, their parents looked grim and when the kids asked who Harry was. James and Lily told them that it was a boy they once knew."

Sirius still didn't react.

"They don't know that they had a brother, Sirius," Dumbledore said quietly. "Do you think that will change if they go to live with Molly?"

"She will give them what they need," Sirius shrugged.

"Food, clothes on their back," Dumbledore said. "Roof above their heads. Love and attention. Those are important. But Molly and Arthur won't be able to give the security, or prepare them for horrors which might await them in the future. Molly will encourage them to build sand castles on ice. She will cultivate ignorance in them. But if you think that your own peace of mind is more important than lives of your godson and the girl who could be your goddaughter…"

"They won't go with me, Albus," Sirius grimaced. "Molly will make sure of that."

"They will, give them a chance," Dumbledore said quietly.

"I will try, I'm not promising miracles though," Sirius shrugged. "Right now I need to visit St Mungo's to check how bad they are."

**R. B.**

Everybody was more or less filled with the cake and Mrs Longbottom cooking masterpieces when Regulus managed to corner his mum without having the other kids breathing down his neck.

They were in secluded corner of the garner where his mum sat down under the shadow of an apple tree, observing the other guests like she usually did after spending some time in the company of a noisy crowd.

"Why wasn't dad present during cake?" Regulus asked as he sat down next to her.

"He got called away," his mum sighed.

"During vacation?" Regulus asked sceptically.

"Reggie, you know that your father is an auror and sometimes he is called off in the middle of the night," his mum said warmly.

"But why?" Regulus pressed.

"Something bad had happened," his mum said quietly. "I don't know the details, only that it did."

"Someone we know?" Regulus asked nervously.

"The Potters," his mum said quietly.

"Their parents," Regulus said.

His mum nodded slowly before she said, "Sirius went to talk with Dumbledore and the healers. He should be back soon. Speaking about the devil…" She paused as she stood up and said more loudly, "Reg, bring Charlie and Minnie to Frank's study. You remember where it is."

"Why me?" Regulus asked pensively.

"Because you leading them away from the party will draw less attention than me or your father doing the same and attention is the last thing we want at the moment," his mum explained.

Regulus nodded and quickly hurried to find Charlie and Minnie. He didn't have to look very far. Both kids, happily stuffed with the cake and cookies were sitting on the swings. Ron wasn't anywhere to be seen and Ginny was only watching them from her strategic place between the bushes. At the moment Ginny was last person Regulus felt concerned about because just like Minnie said, Ginny was boring and her crush made her unable to participate in any games without becoming laughing stock.

"My dad needs to talk with you, urgently," Regulus said when he reached Charlie and Minnie.

"Why?" Charlie asked sceptically.

"I don't know, but he looks very grim so I guess that it's extremely important and nothing pleasant," Regulus said casually.

He lead them to Mr Longbottom's study feeling the bile raising in his throat. He didn't know what happened to the Potters but considering that his dad of all people was summoned then it had to be something very bad.

One look at ashen face of his mum and emotionless mask on dad's face told him that it was indeed something very bad.

"Mum. Dad," he said nervously as he closed the door after Minnie.

"Charlus, Jasmine," his mum said as she quickly walked to them and wrapping her arms around their shoulders she lead them to the couch. "Sirius."

Regulus seated himself in the armchair and looked at his dad, who was in the middle of pouring himself a glass of something from the decanter. Dad quickly gulped the contents of the glass and put the empty glass on the table before he approached the sitting area and seated himself on the other armchair with an extremely grim expression on his face.

"Did something happened to mum and dad?" Minnie asked timidly and Regulus caught how quickly she clung to his mum's arm.

"I'm sorry," dad started. Then he paused and took a deep breath before he continued, "Indeed something bad happened to your parents, Charlus, Jasmine." Regulus saw how Charlie paled and heard Minnie's whimper as she clung to his mum even tighter.

"Are they dead?" Charlie asked weakly.

"No," dad said quietly, without tearing his eyes from the other kids. "At the same time what had happened to them is worse than death."

"How can something be worse than death?" Charlie whispered.

"Did you heard about the Cruciatus Curse?" dad asked slowly.

Charlie and Minnie shook their heads slowly.

"The Cruciatus Curse is Dark Magic, one of the oldest and most cruellest curses known to mankind," his dad said quietly. "It causes pain but not the pain you get from a scrapped knee, or knocking into something. Did you ever have a paper-cut?" Charlie and Minnie nodded. "Now imagine that the pain is increased tenfold in power and isn't concentrated in just one place. It's in every fibre, every cell, every nerve. It burns like fire and makes you think that if it will last any moment longer you will die or lose your mind."

Charlie and Minnie were looking as if they were going to faint.

"It's known to our kinds that the Cruciatus Curse can cause people to lose their sanity," his dad continued. "Depending from how long they were held under the curse, whatever or not it was renewed and their own pain resistance. Considering the nerve damage your parents were held under the Cruciatus for about an hour. The boarder of the nerve damage from which one can recover within few months of therapy is half an hour."

"So mum and dad…" Charlie whimpered and Regulus saw how mum's arm tightened around Charlie's and Minnie's shoulders.

"It's bad," his dad said quietly. "I already talked with the healers and I know that without the healing coma your parents will never have a chance to recover even marginally if not completely. We aren't talking about few days or weeks, even months. The period of coma will be very long and that length will determine their recovery. The optimistic scenario is a year which they will spend in the coma. Realistically it is somewhere between two and eight years. After ten years there will be no hope for recovery."

Minnie started crying softly into his mum's shoulder. His dad stood up and walked to the couch before he crouched and took Charlie's and Minnie's hands into his own hands.

"But your parents are young, and healthy," he said softly. "There is still hope, even if it's tiny."

"There is really anything else…" Charlie started.

"Only time, Charlie," his dad said softly. "Only time."

"What will happen to us?" Minnie whimpered. "I don't want to live with Dudley and his aunt."

"You won't be," his dad shook his head. "When your parents were hurt, your cousin and his aunt were killed. Until your parents recover you will come to stay with us."

"Mrs Weasley won't like it," Charlie said quietly.

"If Mrs Weasley cares about you and your well being then she will have to accept that you will be safer with us because not all the attackers responsible for your parents condition and your cousin's death were captured," his dad said quietly.

"Can we see mum and dad?" asked Minnie.

"You can," his dad said. "But first you need to understand that your parents weren't only tortured with the Cruciatus Curse. Other curses and hexes were used on them and physically it looks ugly even if they are stable and they will be able to recover from the injuries from those curses within few days."

"I understand," Minnie whispered. "Can we?"

His dad held his arms open and Minnie slowly tore from mum and fell into dad's arms, who stood up and allowed her to wrap her legs around his middle as he held her like a small child.

His mum stood up too, still holding her arm wrapped around Charlie's shoulders as she said, "Reggie, can you find uncle Remus and…"

"We will be home before you will return mum," Regulus said quickly. "Take care and don't worry about me and Randa."

Mum gave him small, soft smile before she walked to the Fireplace, grabbed a handful of Floo powder and with small 'St Mungo's' she flooed out, quickly followed by his dad.

**S. B.**

He had seen James and Lily when he arrived at St Mungo's to talk with the healers, but it was only briefly and simply his mind had chosen to not acknowledge the extent of the physical damage, recoverable but nevertheless nasty and ugly.

It took Jasmine just one glance at her parents to burst in tears and to run out of the room, quickly followed by Mirzam chasing after her. Charlie had stayed.

"It's bad," Charlie said quietly. "Very bad."

Sirius didn't know what to do, except slowly nod. Even after all these years spent as an Auror some things still caught him by surprise.

"They always said that we will be old enough someday…" Charlie whispered. "That we should enjoy worry free days…"

"They wanted what they thought was the best for you," Sirius said quietly as he slowly laid his hand on Charlie's shoulder.

"We don't even know why…" Charlie whispered. "I remember galas, flashes of lights, music, words spoken. Something about a hero who saved us all but every time I asked…" Charlie shook his head. "I remember dad and someone else, someone angry, he was saying something about Harry. We never knew any Harry's. I asked mum about this Harry and she run out of the room. When she returned she told me that when I will be old enough she will tell me about Harry but until then I shouldn't bring him up again."

"Did you?" Sirius asked quietly, feeling that something was driven into his heart and twisted until his breath nearly caught in his throat.

"Once, dad, shortly after," Charlie said quietly. "He paled and told me it's too horrific for me to hear about it until I will grow up." He paused and looked from Lily to Sirius and pleaded, "Did you know what it was all about, Mr Black?"

"Sirius," Sirius said almost mechanically as he slowly shook his head and added, "I knew Harry. It pains me that from one of the most important people in their lives Harry had became a memory long forgotten. A bitter reminder of their inability to protect those who had mattered the most."

Charlie looked pleadingly at Sirius as he asked, "Who he was?"

"Your twin brother," Sirius said quietly. "That's the only thing you will hear from me about Harry until we get home, Charlie. We will talk about him, but not when we might be overheard, besides it's very long and very sad story."

"Let's go home then," Charlie said quietly. "It's not as if we are able to help mum and dad now."

"Don't say that, Charlie," Sirius shook his head. "It's bad, it's very bad. But not all hope it's lost."

**R. B.**

He had to retell what happened to Mrs and Mr Potter trice, once to Mrs and Mr Longbottom and Neville, who refused to help him in locating his uncle Remus, then again to Hermione and Randa, whom he found sooner than his uncle Remus and sent to Mr Longbottom's study to wait for him and his uncle Remus and finally to his uncle Remus himself who upon hearing what had happened paled so much that Regulus feared that he would faint.

Somehow they managed to made their way to 12 Grimmauld Place without any problems, Hermione had stayed for a moment, thinking out loud whether or not she should wait for Minnie, who could use the comfort of a friend. But his uncle Remus told her to return home, saying that at the moment Charlie and Minnie would need some calming potions, some rest and presence of adults who would be able to answer their questions, but he also suggested that she should return tomorrow morning.

Then for about ten minutes until his mum and dad had returned with Charlie and Minnie, his uncle Remus was wondering out loud whether or not he should start arranging the rooms for them.

"Mum, I think that Minnie and Charlie should stay with us tonight," said Randa quickly. "Of course if they want to have someone with them in the room," she added after a moment.

"You won't mind?" Minnie asked timidly.

"Of course," Randa said quickly and wrapped her arms around the other girl. "I would want someone to stay with me, if it were my parents," she added.

"How we will get our things?" Charlie asked timidly.

"Your house-elves answer to both of you?" his dad asked pensively.

Charlie nodded slowly.

"Then call one of them and tell them what you want to bring," dad said. "Just things you would need for about two or three days. We will sort out the rest later."

"Err…" Charlie started nervously. "Mr Black you don't know Finky, she will pack whole house and the kitchen sink. She is very dedicated to us, more than Toothie. He is dad's house-elf… Will they…" he looked at dad pleadingly.

"They are your house-elves and they are welcomed here if they chose to stay here," dad said simply. "Kreacher won't mind."

His mum looked at his dad quizzically, who simply shrugged.

Twenty minutes later Charlie and Minnie were put in Reggie's and Randa's bedroom under a mild sleeping and calming potion. Reggie and Randa themselves together with Finky, Toothie and Kreacher helped in arranging separate bedrooms for the Potter kids. Randa did her job happily and even slipped into Minnie's bedroom her favourite doll (which really spoke volumes how welcoming Randa was to the girl). Regulus had found himself at a loss as what should be appropriate welcoming gift for Charlie, because no matter if they hit off quite well he didn't know the boy.

He had found a good idea for Charlie's welcoming gift when he was flipping through the old photo albums. In one of them he had found the photo of the four of Marauders (though he had no idea how the photo managed to survive unscratched when all the rest photos of the Marauders which had Pettigrew were mercilessly cut off to exclude traitorous rat).

The photo was a good one and showed the Marauders exactly at the same age as he and Charlie were, maybe slightly older by a few months. After using a cutting charm to remove the rat from the picture and finding an appropriate frame for it, the photo was placed on Charlie's bedside table even if Charlie himself was snoring in Regulus's room, just a door away.

"It looks great," his dad commented after he inspected both rooms. "But I cannot help but think that we had forgotten something."

"Charlie's birthday perhaps?" his mum asked pensively.

"Pardon?" his dad looked at her.

"Today is 30th July, tomorrow is going to be the 31st, Charlie's birthday," his mum explained, while dad scowled like he usually did when he had forgotten something which seemed important.

"Dad?" Regulus asked. "I know that you have my presents stashed away but seriously I wouldn't miss a box of Chocolate Frogs or other chocolate things. So if Randa and I would write a birthday card for Charlie would it be a problem for you to place it in there?"

His dad looked at his mum who looked back and they both said in unison, "He is your son."

Regulus looked pointedly at his uncle Remus who watched the exchange with a weird look on his face.

"Ever since the day they adopted you, your parents are trying to settle down their never ending argument which of you is more similar to one of them," uncle Remus explained. "Battle of two contradicting believes."

"Like father like son, like mother like daughter versus mother's son and daddy's girl?" Regulus asked curiously.

"As I said, never ending battle," his uncle Remus smiled at him. "Come on, I know that it would be polite to wait for Charlie but it seems that there is an owl downstairs with a letter which has your name on it."

"Hogwarts' letter came?" Regulus breathed out before he rushed out.

He was running down the stairs to the kitchen but still managed to hear his dad's voice, "No matter how sure they are that they would go to Hogwarts, mention a letter with Hogwarts's seal on it and they go mad."

"As if you never did," his mum commented.

* * *

**Awaiting criticism - like always. I'm replying as long as you leave me your email or you log in while reviewing. Bring my ego down ;)**

_Hermione, there are lots of questions about her so I decided to give an answer, or rather a promise of one. I could of course explain her and Regulus's friendship and how it had started here but I find it more appropriate to devote a chapter to their friendship (or at least some big part of a chapter) rather than doing it in author's notes. The only problem is that at the moment there isn't a place in following chapters, like four, five or six devoted appropriately to preparing for Hogwarts and going to Hogwarts and getting sorted for devoting them to explanations about Hermione. But don't worry because appropriate time will come when Hermione would need Regulus's support the most (and at the moment it's hard for me to point the exact number of the chapter which might be closer to ten than seven, I guess)._

_Also the Potters... Call me cruel but everything which happens has a point, I simply didn't get to explain that point yet (but I'm sure that you have your own ideas about sweeping the Potters under the carpet)._

_I hope that you enjoyed it. Brace yourself for Diagon Alley and some bonding moments.  
_


	4. Chapter 4: Diagon Alley

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Harry Potter or anything what you can recognize from the books. I do however own the plot of this story but I don't have profits because of it unless you count improving my English as a profit.

**So** **_read, enjoy and review (because I love to read your criticism and as long as you are logged in or I have your email I'm answering to your questions)._**

Thanks to **omega13a** for beta-reading and helpful suggestions.

**Happy reading.

* * *

**

**Chapter four: Diagon Alley.**

**R. B.**

He slept peacefully through the most of the night until he received a jab into ribs. He blinked owlishly as he quickly contemplated the idea of whacking the offender on the head with his pillow but managed to stop himself in the last moment and it was a good thing that he did.

In front of him, clutching one another's arms were standing Randa and Minnie.

"Can we sleep here?" Randa asked quietly.

"Sure sis," Regulus mumbled. "My bed is your bed, just don't kick," he yawned.

Thankfully Randa had brought their blanket not that it was needed because few minutes later all four of them were snoring softly under Regulus's blanket, wrapped in a tangle of arms.

**S. B.**

He woke up early, more out of habit than need (between two kids in the house and his work he learned to get up early even if he spent most of his teenager years sleeping until noon when he was allowed).

Mirzam was already up, seated in front of the small mirror in the corner and brushing her long hair. When she saw that he was awake she smiled (he saw the reflection in the mirror) and put the brush away.

"Come," she smiled again as she turned around to face him. "I have something to show to you."

He yawned, grabbed his bathrobe, wrapped it tightly around himself as he tried to locate his slippers before he followed her to the corridor. Then down the stairs to Regulus's room.

She turned around, laid her forefinger on her lips and slowly opened the door.

The sight was heart-warming. All four of kids were sleeping in Regulus's bed, and from the distance looked like a tangle of limbs with black hairs and the top of the whole bunch was laying Ditto, Randa's cat, which she got for her adoption day.

"Seems that our initial fears were nothing more than that," Sirius yawned. "Come, Moonchild, let's get some coffee before we will disturb them for good."

Few minutes later, with freshly brewed sweet coffee (with half of the sugar bowl inside it like Mirzam used to say) he was munching on a croissant and paging through the Daily Prophet while Mirzam was doing the crossword and drinking her evening coffee (reheated with generous cup of milk - she had never drank strong coffee before breakfast) when their ears were assaulted by a noise coming from upstairs.

"I thought that Kreacher would be ready with a birthday breakfast before they would wake up," Mirzam yawned into her mug.

But what fell into the kitchen, making a lot of mind piercing noise weren't the quartet of kids between the age of eleven and nine but three house-elves glaring murderously at each other (which they resumed as soon as they managed to collect themselves from the floor).

"Silence!" Sirius barked out.

The elves had frozen and fixed they glares at Sirius, then realised what they were doing and started pulling on their ears.

"Can I be enlightened what's this is all about?" Sirius asked sourly.

Finky and Toothie looked at each other fearfully before they squalled.

"Kreacher?" Sirius sighed.

"Master, they disturbed Kreacher in making the room ready for young master's birthday," Kreacher answered sourly.

"Finky," Sirius turned to the one of the Potter's elf, the one which wore a small dress draped from a blue pillowcase and tied with gold ribbon.

"It's master's birthday, Mr Black," she said fearfully. "Young master had lost his parents, we want to make his birthday not so glum but then he…" she glared at Kreacher, "interrupted."

"Finky, Toothie," Mirzam said patiently. "I realise that you aren't our house-elves and aren't obliged to answer to no one else but the Charlie, Minnie and their parents. However I will ask of both of you to understand that Kreacher is our house-elf who served our family for a long time." Kreacher beamed at the praise. "I know that you still want to serve to Charlie and Minnie but can you work out a compromise with Kreacher and in presence of kids try to appear to be at least civil to each other."

"But how we are supposed to serve, Mrs Black, when we weren't told what we are allowed to do?" Finky asked.

"Surely you have your areas in which you excel, all of you," Mirzam said pointedly. "I'm sure that three pairs of hands while working together can do everything a bit quicker and better if you try to cooperate. If you will finish your job you are allowed to have free time."

"Free time?" Finky asked, she practically had tears in her eyes. "House-elves never have free time Mrs Black, our duty is to serve."

"I know," Mirzam nodded. "Surely you have something you like to do more than other things and enjoy doing it very much. When you have free time from other duties you are allowed to do it and enjoy doing it. Kreacher for example in his free time paints cups and saucers and is very good at doing it."

"Finky likes knitting and sewing," Finky admitted timidly. "Mrs Potter taught her how to sew pieces of materials so Finky could make a carpet for our cupboard."

"That's a good example," Mirzam nodded eagerly.

"Toothie likes to read stories," Toothie finally spoke, he was taller than other two lanky house-elf and as far as house-elves go could be classified as a lad. "About knights and good wizards fighting bad wizards," he added hopefully.

"Very well," Mirzam said happily. "Then the library is at your disposal. I'm only asking you to not throw away any papers. That's the only other rule I give you other than no fighting with each other in presence of the kids."

The two new house-elves nodded eagerly.

"Now can I ask you try to find a compromise, who will prepare breakfast before kids will wake?" Mirzam asked patiently. "You may start as soon as you come to an agreement."

The elves nodded and all three of them disappeared.

Sirius looked at the spot when the three of them stood then at his wife and he mumbled, "I love you."

"I know," Mirzam smiled at him. "Little mercies," she smirked. "I hope that they will come to an agreement soon because you just ate our last croissant and I'm really in no mood for scrambled eggs with consistency of a plank."

**R. B.**

He had found himself watching the look of mingled fear and surprise on his father's wasted, once-handsome face as he fell through the ancient doorway and disappeared behind the veil, which fluttered for a moment as though in a high wind and then fell back into place.

There was some triumphant scream but he couldn't tear his eyes from the archway, wishing that his dad would stop making jokes and reappear because it was nothing, just an archway covered with drapery … It was nothing.

"Sirius," he heard someone calling his father's name.

But his dad didn't reappear.

He wanted to scream, to tear through the veil but it was then when he had realised that the room wasn't empty, that they were people, fighting… and his dad was gone.

Then something akin to breeze passed through the room and for a single moment he could see his father's suddenly younger and handsome face, the way he was now and mum's gentle smile and violet eyes full of love as she extended her hand to dad and said, "He is strong, always had been and always will be."

"I wish that I could have a chance to say goodbye," his dad said.

"Don't act as if you were leaving him alone for forever," his mum said gently. "No matter where he will go he will always have you in his heart, he will have us all and when his time will come we will be there for him."

He woke up with a start with his dad's name on his lips. He would have sat up if he wasn't pinned by three bodies, four if one counted the cat who looked at him as if Reggie committed some major offence.

"Was up?" Randa mumbled.

"Nothing," Reggie mumbled. "Just a nightmare, go to sleep."

"At eight o'clock in the morning?" Minnie yawned. "No way."

"Then you won't mind if I would go to the bathroom?" he asked quickly.

"Nuh," Randa yawned and rolled from his side on the bed.

He dashed out of the room but instead going to nearest bathroom he hurried down the stairs to the kitchen. In the hall on the ground floor he had collided with his dad.

"Whoa! Lethifold under your bed or just a herd of dragons?" his dad asked as he helped him stand up.

"Drapery," Regulus mumbled. "A murderous one," he breathed out. Then he collected himself a bit and asked timidly, "Can we talk?"

"Sure," dad nodded and lead him to the dinning-room.

The room was used only occasionally, during birthday parties or official dinners with his dad's co-workers but nevertheless it was clean and quite bright considering how grim the old house was.

"So what's eating you, Reggie?" his dad asked as he sat down on the big chair and patted his knees for Regulus to sit on them.

"I had a nightmare, dad," Regulus admitted as he settled himself on his dad's lap. "It was weird. We were in a stone room with an archway covered with drapery. People were fighting and suddenly you fell through the archway and didn't reappear. Then I saw you and mum talking about saying goodbyes and leaving someone."

"Do you recall if the archway had some rune symbols on it?" his dad asked pensively.

Regulus nodded slowly.

"So it was the Veil of Death," his dad said thoughtfully. "But I cannot imagine why I would have to come into contact with it Reggie," he added after a moment and shrugged. "So you really don't need to worry about me dying."

"But you know what it is, don't you?" Reggie pressed.

"I know," his dad nodded. "But I only saw pictures of it and know where it is located though I never saw it in person. In the old times the veils like that one was used to punish the worse criminals - those sentenced to death. I'm no criminal, I don't have a death sentence and besides the veils had disappeared from the face of the Earth over the years. One of the few which still exists in Europe is used by Unspeakables to study … well death. I'm not one. Besides seriously, Reggie can you imagine the epitaph? Sirius Black, husband, father and friend, dedicated Auror killed by drapery?"

Regulus snorted, once you looked at it with clear mind it really sounded ridiculous. But some doubt had still lingered in his mind.

"But you won't be coming anywhere near it?" Regulus asked nervously.

"Marauder's honour Reggie," his dad said solemnly.

"I just don't want to lose you, or mum, or Randa, or uncle Remus."

"I know," his dad said and he gave him a quick kiss on the forehead. "You, your sister and mother are all my world, and uncle Moony too."

"There is something else I wanted to ask about," Reggie said quietly. "In the dream mum said something about you never leaving me … But if you were dead…"

His dad was silent for a moment before he said pensively, "The war with Voldemort had taught us to cherish every day and to respect the dead. We got used to the thought of death waiting for us around the corner. Therefore we paid more attention to aspects of dying than your generation ever would…" he paused and scratched his beard. "For you or Randa death seems to be an ending but it's really not, at least not only. It's an ending and a beginning at the same time. You part with your body, with things and people connected to everything you know, your family, friends and you start a new adventure."

"How being there connects to it?" Regulus asked sceptically.

"Every person you will meet and get to know them leaves an imprint in you, in your soul, in your heart, in your mind. It might be good or it might be bad but it always happens. The better you know them, respect them or love/like them the stronger the imprint is. People will pass but what will remain is what they left behind and not only in material sense," his dad said.

"So they never truly leave us," Regulus whispered.

His dad nodded and he said with a small smile, "Your grandmother wasn't the best mother in the world. Dad always lived in her shadow and the older we got the stronger she got just as dad got weaker. But I still remember him better than her. Those letters you discovered were some sort of therapy for me. A way of dealing with that part of my past where dad's support, if he offered it would have stopped me from doing several stupid things which I truly regret."

"I'm not even asking," Regulus smirked.

"I never told it to anyone and I hope that it will stay between you and I Reggie," dad said confidentially. "You know that Animagi transformation relies a lot on the character and in some way on the Patronus as well, though not always. It was dad who had given me Padfoot."

Regulus stared at dad in surprise.

"When your uncle grew up from early stages of being a toddler dad came home with something which pissed our mother like you have no idea. It was a puppy," dad said with a small, fond smile. "Small, with thick, fluffy coal black fur and a pair of green eyes. We named him Snuffles because when dad was reading stories to us Snuffles laid on our legs, like a breathing blanket and was snuffing happily."

"What Snuffles and Padfoot have to death?" Regulus asked curiously.

"That despite all the hurt which had passed between us in my heart I carry the picture of dad at his best, not at his worse and that no matter where I go these good memories will be always with me," his dad explained. "And frankly over the years I got used to the thought that, like my grandma always used to say when my mother expressed her and dad's doubtful parentage of my person; Sirius, you are truly your father's son. When I was a lad it pissed me off like you have no idea…"

"And now?"

"Now I find more of dad in me than my younger self ever wanted and those are small things, good things," his dad said softly. "I have my coffee the same way he did, even if your mother says that we are constantly out of sugar because of that. I have his eyes, his nose, his jaw, his smile. I'm ambidextrous just like he was. I grow a beard the same way he did when he didn't have time to shave. I have his gesticulation. His height. His habit of crooking the edges of pages in the books I'm reading when I need to take a break from reading. I walk the same way he did…" his dad said and smiled.

"You forgot to add another thing which you have in common, dad," Regulus smirked.

"And what is that?" his dad asked curiously.

"Junior," Regulus flashed dad small, cheeky smile.

His dad for a split second looked shocked but then the shock had changed into a smirk as his dad said, "Let's not forget cheeky firstborns."

Regulus's retort had died on his lips as dad started tickling him mercilessly.

*

Somehow he had managed to escape his dad's clutches and dashed to the kitchen hoping that his mum was there to save him from being tortured at his dad's hand.

He barely managed to spot that the rest of the occupants were already seated at the table and munching on their breakfast but not knowing whether or not it will stop his dad from torturing him some more so he ran to hide behind mum's chair. Not that it had helped.

His dad quickly levelled with him and before he realised what was happening he was hanging over his dad's shoulder and was carried to his usual seat at the table.

"Do I want to know what it was all about?" his mum asked with a small smile.

"We were just settling an argument, Moonchild," his dad said simply.

"About cheeky firstborns," Regulus added and stuck his tongue at his dad.

"Then carry on by all means," his mum smiled. Then she paused and after a moment she said, "While you were occupied with settling your argument I talked with Alice and we had agreed to meet at Diagon Alley today to purchase your books and potions ingredients."

"The Weasleys will be there?" Charlie asked curiously.

"Not at Diagon Alley," his mum shook her head. "Alice already talked with Molly and the Weasleys will go to Diagon Alley next week, but they will come later this afternoon."

"Why?" Charlie asked and then he mumbled, "Oh, right."

"Unless you don't wish to have a party, Charlie," his mum said slowly. "I'm sure that we can find some other date to celebrate your birthday."

"No, it's fine. I just thought that…" Charlie mumbled. "That's one of the reasons why we are going to Diagon Alley today, isn't it?"

"Indeed," his mum confirmed. "Though if we won't go to Diagon Alley today then for sure we would go tomorrow because Reggie wouldn't stop asking when we would go and he is very persistent. Yesterday one of us could have went to Diagon Alley but I think that you would like a present which you will chose rather than something useless or something you dislike."

"Can I have a pet?" Charlie asked timidly.

"Of course," his dad confirmed. "And you too Reggie, I can see your eyes twinkling, Mr Randa's Got a Pet Why I Didn't Dad."

"Because it's true," Regulus said in mockingly hurt voice.

"Can I get a pet too?" Minnie asked timidly. "I know that it's not my birthday but…"

"Sure, why not. Just as long as it's not a dragon," his dad chuckled. "Dragons are terribly passé this season."

"Can it be a puppy?" Minnie asked more bravely. "I always wanted to have a dog but mum always said that I'm too small for one."

"Don't say a word," his mum hissed just like his dad opened his mouth to say something. "Or you will get acquainted with the leash."

Regulus snorted into his tea, his mum threatened his dad with a leash at least once a week and in so far she never put it on him.

"Did our letters from Hogwarts arrive?" Charlie asked curiously.

"Yesterday evening," his mum confirmed. "I have them with me."

*

Regulus and Randa arrived at the Leaky Cauldron together with their mum by side-along Apparition while their dad and uncle Remus were supposed to follow them shortly with Charlie, Minnie and Hermione.

Their dad Apparated with Charlie who looked a bit green and was dry-heaving.

"Is there any way of travelling which doesn't involve getting sick afterward?" Charlie mumbled.

"You did quite well actually," Regulus smiled sympathetically. "Most people vomit after first Apparition, even side-along ones."

"Can't imagine why…" Charlie mumbled.

Just then his uncle Remus apparated with Minnie and Hermione who looked as if Apparition didn't affect them a single bit.

"Better than Flooing," Minnie beamed.

"I heard that before," his dad smirked and looked pointedly at his mum, who simply shrugged.

"All right, let's go," his dad said. "Alice is meeting us at Flourish and Blots, isn't she?"

"She should be there in fifteen minutes," mum said.

"By then you will have covered half of Ancient Runes section," his dad said. "I will drop you there and I will go to Gringotts to get some money out."

Regulus expected a quiet and calm walk through the alley but it seemed that in the same moment they had stepped through the entrance of Diagon Alley they got the attention of all the people in their close vicinity.

"It's Charlie Potter, what he is doing with Black?"

"My sister-in-law knows from reliable source that Black had generously paid the Weasleys for getting guardianship of the Potter kids."

"No, the Minister of Magic himself had decided that keeping the Boy-Who-Lived in the house of the Deputy Commissioner of Auror Office will work good for his publicity."

"Black didn't crack the parents himself. The word has it that after other boy snuffed it and Black cut all links with Potter senior soon after."

"Why he would do such a thing they were best chums at Hogwarts?"

"Ignore them," his mum hissed at his dad.

"I do," his dad said through gritted teeth. "Never mind that I still want to hex them."

They managed to reach Flourish and Blotts without having anyone coming in their close vicinity. The look on his dad's face spoke volumes of what will became of the person who would dare to intrude on them.

They left his mum, uncle Remus and younger girls at the bookstore while Hermione, Charlie, and him had accompanied his dad to Gringotts, like Regulus had done often when he was shopping with dad.

"Ollivander's or Madam Malkin's?" his dad asked curiously as they stepped out of Gringotts.

"Ollivander's first," Regulus suggested. "Mum was muttering something about needing to visit Madam Malkin before the holidays are over so I think that we should go there together."

Dad nodded and lead them to the small store, before which Regulus spotted Mrs Longobottom and Neville waiting for them.

"Mirzam told us that we will be able to find you there," Mrs Longobottom said with a smile.

"How did you know…" his dad mumbled as he shook his head.

"My dear Sirius, that's a little thing called instinct. Besides let's face it, how long you and Mirzam have been together. Twelve years?" Mrs Longobottom asked.

"We were married for eleven, knew each other for twenty-two," dad said simply.

"There, you have it," Mrs Longobottom said.

They walked into the shop. It was small and cramped space filled with tons of boxes. Mrs Longbottom had seated herself at the lone chair in the corner of the shop while his dad leaned against the only available wall.

"Ah, customers," spoke a soft voice. "I was expecting you any day now," was added as from behind the pile of boxes emerged an old man which reminded Regulus strongly of Professor Dumbledore who was sort of adopted grandfather for him and Randa.

Mr Ollivander seemed to carry the same air of very talented old man and impossibly calm.

"Ms Alice Trenton," Ollivander spoke softly. "Ten inches, maple and unicorn hair. Very well for charms."

"Mrs Alice Longobottom, now, Mr Ollivander," Mrs Longobottom smiled. "Other than that nothing has changed."

"And Mr Sirius Black," Ollivander turned to his dad. "Four wands of twelve inches holly and dragon heartstrings. Suitable for Transfiguration and hexes."

"Why three sets?" Hermione asked curiously.

"Two were destroyed," dad shrugged. "One belonged to my father. I use it as often as my Auror wand because both are working fine for me."

"And because it's necessary for an Auror to have two wands, not necessarily on him or herself but if one is destroyed in a time when it cannot be replaced quickly the other wand works well too," Ollivander explained. "I believe that Gregorowich had created your second wand, Mrs Longbottom."

"Now," Ollivander turned to four children. "Let's allow the lady to have her wand picked first," he added as he pulled tape measure from the pocket of his robe. "Which is your wand arm my dear?"

"I'm ambidextrous, though I use right hand more often," Hermione answered.

Mr Ollivander scratched his beard as the tape measure kept measuring Hermione, then he said suddenly, sounding as if he was having internal discussion with himself, "… and why not vine wood?"

He disappeared behind the stack of boxes and emerged with small box, which he immediately opened and handed the wand to Hermione saying, "Vine wood, eleven inches, with the core of dragon heartstrings. Supple and excellent for charms and suitable for transfiguration."

Hermione took the wand eagerly and swished it through the air creating a tail of small, silver stars following the wand.

"Vine wood never fails," Ollivander said with small smile. "Especially on ambidextrous girls, am I right Mr Black?"

"Still in use," his dad said quickly. "She is very happy with it."

"Now, young Mr Longbottom," Ollivander said. "You don't look like maple to me, something more solid than maple. Cherry or oak." He reached with his right hand blindly to the right and pulled quickly one of the boxes from the stack. "Oak and dragon heartstrings," he said as he passed the wand to Neville only to take it away as soon as the wood had touched Neville's hand. "No, no, no, that won't do."

Six wands, one potted flower and one mirror barely saved from breaking later Neville became happy owner of twelve inch cherry wand with a unicorn tail hair core. Mr Ollivander with a sigh of relief had moved to remaining two boys.

It took Charlie eleven wands and a vanished chair from under Mrs Longbottom to finally settle for a eleven inch wand of mahogany with a phoenix feather core. He left the shop with Mrs Longbottom and other kids, except Regulus. They stepped outside while his dad had remained with Regulus.

"Holly or vine wood," Mr Ollivander muttered to himself when it came Regulus's turn for finding the right wand.

"He handles holly better than vine wood," his dad said suddenly.

"How well?" Olliavander asked curiously.

"Enough to cover first two years of Hogwarts education without too much of a delay in casting by the age of ten," dad answered. "He used my great grandfather's wand of holly and phoenix tail feather. It works well but I'm sure that there has to be something which works better than that one because it's almost falling apart."

"Holly and phoenix," Ollivander whispered. "Are you sure, Mr Black that your son is really able to cast spells properly with that kind of wand?"

"What's the problem?" Regulus asked timidly.

"Holly and phoenix wands are tad more powerful and because of that a bit harder to control. Holly in general is suitable for very powerful cores, like elder, though more favoured because elder is considered as a wood which gives bad luck to the owner whose wand is made of that wood," his dad explained.

"That's why there is only two others than your wand made of holly wood at home," Regulus muttered.

"Still collecting family wands, Mr Black?" Ollivander asked, his voice seemed to be coming from behind huge stack of boxes.

"It's not collecting. It's an inability to part with the history," dad said dryly. "I remember each story my father said about their owners. Some were funny, some scary but each of them was unique though I find myself at considering giving up few of them because they aren't cooperating with anyone of us. Mostly cherries and maples with unicorn hairs."

"It never fails to have an available wand around, especially when times are dark," Ollivander confirmed. "Eleven inches, holly and phoenix feather. How long is the other wand your son is using?" he asked curiously.

"Eight inches," dad answered.

"Then let's try this one," Ollivander said as he handed the wand to Regulus.

Immediately Regulus felt the warmth of the wand and watched golden and red sparks emerge from the wand.

Dad beamed at him and Regulus couldn't help but grin back.

"Go outside. I will join you in a moment," his dad said.

Regulus nodded and biding quick goodbye Mr Ollivander he ran out of the shop.

It seemed to take his dad few more minutes to leave the shop and when he did he appeared to be torn between being uncomfortable and distressed but that look had quickly vanished from his face as soon as his eyes had fell on them.

"Wand holsters," his dad said cheerfully as he approached them and started handing out the holsters. "Saves your buttocks like Moody would say and makes drawing out wands easier."

"You didn't have to, Sirius," Mrs Longbottom said quickly.

"Nonsense, Alice," his dad shrugged. "Basic wand safety first. Comfort of not looking for the wand everywhere second. Now let's find the others and finish shopping."

His mum, uncle Remus along with Mr Longbottom and Randa and Minnie were still at Flourish and Blotts, along with quite a high pile of books.

"Find some less serious reading now," his dad said and the four of them had scrambled around the shop.

Regulus immediately set his eyes on '_Animagi Chronicles_' by Mina Turner, his favourite series of books about a group of young animagis who solve detective mysteries by using their powers. He was awaiting the new book eagerly since New Years.

He had found some prankster books and decided on getting one with some very interesting pranks. Then he had moved through the Potions, Defence and Transfiguration sections and pick one or two books from each.

A half hour later, because his dad had to convince a suddenly nervous Charlie that it was no problem for Charlie to pick what he really liked.

Finally they had reached Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions where his mum made them each purchase five sets of Hogwarts robes instead of the required three, two winter cloaks and three sets of dragon hide gloves for each of them. She herself had purchased two robes and one cloak. She had also purchased several other trivialities about which Regulus hardly cared: like socks and underwear.

From Madam Malkin's they went to Magical Menagerie from where they left with three cats, one for Charlie, one for Regulus and one for Hermione and one puppy, for Minnie.

Hermione's cat was different than other two, which were kittens. It was old and as far as cats went it was ugly, as if it had run into a solid wall at full speed and his red fur looked like he spent last few days at dusting all the corners in the shop.

Regulus's and Charlie's cats were kittens, coal black with small patches of white fur on their front and paws (Regulus's cat had white fur on its front paws and Charlie's had it on the hind paws). They were named appropriately Madness and Insanity. The puppy, a small golden retriever was called Sam, though as soon as they left the shop Regulus and Charlie agreed to dub the dog with the name '_Come Back Here At Once_' because Sam happily ran ahead of them.

On their way to the Apothecary and cauldron shop they had stopped at Owl's Emporium where Regulus and Charlie glued their eyes to the window to admire a pair of white owls, male and female.

It took their mum some time to coax them to finish their shopping. Regulus purchased his potions ingredients with small regret that students weren't allowed to have two pets.

They came back home incredibly hungry and quite tired but it was nothing that a good onion soup with some crispy toast wouldn't fix.

After late lunch his dad sent all four kids upstairs, while Neville and Hermione had remained with the adults downstairs.

As soon as Regulus entered his room he saw that at his desk was standing a cage with a white owl inside it. He grinned happily as he quickly approached the desk and opened the cage. The owl flew out of it and landed on his outstretched arm before she nipped affectingly at his ear.

"Reggie your parents are brilliant," Charlie said happily from the doorway, on his shoulder was sitting another white owl. "But how we are going to take both cats and owls to Hogwarts."

Regulus's owl blinked and hopped from his arm, making few circles in the air. Regulus grinned, that was a very good idea.

"They will fly to us from home," Regulus smiled. "Won't they. With our first letters. Who says that teachers will be checking how many pets we have after first day of school?"

"Well, I do," came amused snort from the doorway. "You are lucky that your mother sweet talked Headmaster Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall to eventually allow one student to have two pets as long as one is an owl and the other is not. The fact that your father is a member of the Hogwarts Board of Governors hadn't hurt either."

"Uncle Severus!" Regulus beamed. "You came!" he cheered as he ran to him and embraced him quickly.

"I cannot say no to your mother's chocolate cookies and the wine from your father's cellar. Besides your mother expressed her desire to discuss something with me," his uncle Severus answered.

"How to keep Randa away from anything explosive?" Regulus asked playfully.

"Your poor sister is beyond salvation, I fear," uncle Severus sighed. "She already managed to convince young Ms Potter that potion making is a very promising field to get into where there is a lot to be discovered. Then again genes and parental influence…" he shrugged. "I trust that you perfected your Shrinking Solution recipe during the holidays."

"I did," Regulus nodded. "But dad laid a ban on poisons and antidotes. Said that he isn't qualified to teach me that and that's supposed to be your job as my de facto godfather and Potions Professor."

"Repeat third year material then when you have time. We will start your lessons in the afternoon of your first Friday," his uncle Severus said. "Ah, Mr Potter, how is your potions education? Considering your parentage you should be able to tell the difference between wolfsbane and aconite."

Regulus looked at Charlie who looked like a deer staring at the headlights of an approaching car before he answered for Charlie, "There is no difference uncle Severus, it's the same plant which also gets called monkshood.

Uncle Severus nodded as he turned to Regulus and said firmly, "Coach Mr Potter in his studies. You do remember who is supposed to be in your year and considering all parentages I have no doubt that you will meet in my class."

Regulus nodded quickly before uncle Severus quickly left the hall.

"Who was that?" Charlie asked nervously.

"That's Severus Snape, Professor Severus Snape. He is head of Slytherin house and Hogwarts Potions Master, mum's friend and colleague who also happens to be my self-proclaimed godfather," Regulus explained.

"Why he asked you to coach me in Potions?" Charlie asked more bravely.

"It's extremely complicated to explain," Regulus grimaced. "Dad will be able to explain more clearly than I would. But trust me you are in for a very difficult year if you try to oppose uncle Severus."

"Personal experience?" Charlie gulped.

"No, history," Regulus replied. "And as mum says that those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it."

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**Awaiting criticism - like always. I'm replying as long as you leave me your email or you log in while reviewing. Bring my ego down ;)**

_I have few things to say, mostly because of a review which I was unable to reply privately because my reviewer didn't leave returning address. _

_The Weasleys, mostly Ginny and Molly: in this story I hadn't written a word or ridiculed a behaviour (perhaps taking Ginny into slight extremes but I will explain why I did so in a moment) that don't have back up in canon__ - yes Ginny fans, canon, it would seem that some of you forget that Ginny wasn't instantly super!great!Ginny from OotP and HBP. Face it in PS/SS, CoS and PoA Ginny is just Ron's sister with a crush on Harry, who in CoS got herself into big troubles because of putting her trust in wrong ... I can't say person ... thing. She starts to become more dimensional character by GoF. That's a homework for you: read first three books with a pencil in hand and underline every moment in which Ginny appears and what she does then. Then come to me to prove me wrong (if you of course can). **Why I take Ginny's behaviour to extremes?** It's quite simple and gets named appropriately Randa, Hermione, Susan and Hannah. She has a crush on Charlie, big crush and she is fully convinced that she has one up over them because she knew Charlie longer than they did but then she sees that while shy Charlie appears to be at ease with other girls, something which cannot be said about their 'relationship' because Charlie tries to avoid Ginny because of her crush which intimidates him. **And Minnie?** Minnie is very straightforward about what she thinks, Ginny is the only girl who Minnie knew for some time and she knows what annoys her in girls she could be friends with, she is slightly jealous that, at the moment, for Ginny she is only Charlie's sister and not her own person, not just younger sister of the Hero, Charlie Potter but just Minnie Potter._

_Molly? Am I wrong again or do I need to back up my opinion with canon? For those interested: Order of the Phoenix, chapter five called Order of the Phoenix, read and come to argue with me. Molly cultivates ignorance or rather tries to do so because suddenly she learns that Fred, George, Ron and Ginny developed minds on their own and want to know as much as they can learn about the war which is going behind the walls of the Headquarters, she attempts to do it on Harry and Hermione too but they aren't her children and she isn't the only adult responsible (in some way at least) for these two because Hermione is smart girl and for Harry, Sirius's authority in that moment overrides her to her obvious displeasure (also canon, same book, same chapter). **If she does it to teenagers with minds on their own, don't you think that she will try to shield Charlie and Minnie from big, bad world? Humour me and say no.**_

_Ron? Err, your problem exactly? I reread the chapter, **and in so far Ron's only fault is being slightly nervous in bigger company** (fearing that Charlie will discard his friend for some other cooler, richer kids - which is reasonable fear even though irrational) **and being unable to explain to Ginny how irrational her behaviour is.** Some call it bashing, I call it keeping Ron in character: he is worried about losing his friend and makes fun out of his sister's crush in company of other kids - and hadn't he done exactly the same things in canon? It doesn't mean that he doesn't care for Ginny, he does, he sees irrationality of Ginny's behaviour which alienates her from other kids and makes fun of it. **Of course ideal situation would be having him defend her like a big brother he is supposed to be but as I managed to prove the Weasleys aren't ideals. Don't expect from Ron to be empathic about Ginny's reasons to alienate herself from other girls - that would be out of character.**_

_And as far as my opinion of Weasley basher goes in this story in so far I'm a perfect angel, I hadn't say anything which isn't true in canon-wise characteristics. However I cannot make some people change their minds but I will say one thing: if some of you still have issues with my way of writing the Weasleys in this story then please admit, even to yourself, that you have issues with JKR too because the Weasleys are HER characters and all characteristics of them are in HER books, written by HER and I back up my opinions with canon. End of story._

_**On a lighter note: I was asked, repeatedly for back-story of Regulus's and Hermione's friendship**. I promised in author's note in last chapter that you can expect it around chapter ten - I hadn't technically lied because when I was posting last chapter I was fully convinced that between chapter four and seven there won't be enough place to bring up that back-story into light. But with major rewrite of chapter five (because I was desperately trying to keep dead... well dead, while they kept repapering like mushrooms after the rain so I simply removed the reasons of my temptation to resurrect some people who should stay dead) **I can honestly say, right hand over my heart, scouts honour and such that the back-story of Regulus's and Hermione's friendship will make chapter five. **  
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	5. Chapter 5: Before the 1st September

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Harry Potter or anything what you can recognize from the books. I do however own the plot of this story but I don't have profits because of it unless you count improving my English as a profit.

_**Hushpuppy** - I don't even know what I should say because whatever I say bounces back from you. **You took me for that evil, delusional Harry/Hermione shipper and you won't change your mind no matter what I will say. But allow others to do so: my beta omega13a** (direct quote concerning the hexing match between Sirius and Mrs Weasley at the beginning of the chapter): _'If any one claimes that is Weasley bashing, tell them that your beta likes the Weasleys and says that is something a canon Mrs Weasley would do. Also tell them to read GoF and OotP. If that doesn't shut them up, then they are beyond hope' _as well as several other reviewers on reviews page like **Aelirenn **and **BaltaineShadow**. **If you still aren't inclined to accept that criticism isn't bashing then please stop reading fanfiction which obviously offends your very sensible views at the books which every person who is reading my story had read** (and I assume that they did more than once). **I'm not expecting readers to agree with my every point or decisions concerning my stories but I expect of them keeping certain level of maturity in voicing their opinions** (i.e. shipping wars belong to forums assigned for them and not my reviews page - and trust me it goes for every pairing). Yours sincerely, Sniffy. _

**So** **_read, enjoy and review (because I love to read your criticism and as long as you are logged in or I have your email I'm answering to your questions)._**

Thanks to **omega13a** for beta-reading, helpful suggestions and patience of a saint with me (lately stretched very thin) and **Aelirenn** and **BaltaineShadow** for convincing me that we actually read the same books and lightening my spirit while I was writing this chapter.

**Happy reading.**

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**Chapter five: Before the 1st September.**

After Regulus's and Charlie's joint birthdays on 31st July life had resumed its former pace though quite peaceful August didn't manage to pass without few disturbances.

The reason of disturbances was Mrs Weasley opposition to his dad's refusal to let Charlie and Minnie's stay at the Burrow during last few days of August, about which his dad argued against as vehemently as Mrs Weasley did to make it happen.

But Regulus knew that come morning of 25th August his dad will had to find a safe house for at least Charlie and Minnie.

The times when nearing a full moon had filled Regulus and Miranda with dread had passed several years ago when uncle Severus for the first time had brought Wolfsbane Potion for their mum and uncle Moony. Additionally, naturally in secret, their dad had trained both Regulus and Miranda in Animagi transformation. Quite a challenge for eight and six years old at that time but Regulus had knew that with his dad they were safe because dad was an experienced Animagus.

But Black kids were Black kids and Potter kids were Potter kids. Regulus knew that if something had went wrong with the Wolfsbane Potion then he and Randa had an additional defence against the jaws of bloodthirsty werewolves in their canine forms. Charlie and Minnie didn't and his dad decided that for Charlie and Minnie it was too early to teach them to be Animagi, not to mention considering the difficult times they were going through informing them that two of their three guardians are werewolves wasn't something appropriate.

So finally after lots of quarrels and several hexes from both sides it was agreed that his dad will allow Charlie and Minnie to have a pyjama party at the Weasleys on 25th August and that they will be able to spend almost two days there.

Then came another quarrel with Minnie who refused to go to the Weasleys and refused quite vehemently.

With final solution came always thoughtful Hermione who was visiting Regulus and Randa when Minnie's attack of bad humour occurred and proposed that on 25th she will have girls day at her house. Neville, also visiting them at that time wisely chose to not invite Regulus over.

Regulus couldn't imagine better friends than those two. Of course they knew of his secret ability and aside of making him change in front of them once or twice just to see him they had never came back to that subject. Naturally they knew that he had wanted to spend the last full moon with his parents.

Come early morning Charlie, Randa and Minnie were dispatched to appropriate locations, the Floo connection was shut down after Charlie, the front door was locked after Hermione, Randa and Minnie, the last cups of Wolfsbane Potion were taken and the remaining members of Black family had braced themselves for the coming full moon.

Which was worse than any full moon Regulus experienced in his short life. The potion hadn't worked at all and he had watched with his heart slicing into pieces how his mum and beloved uncle were first twisting in pain and then pacing the cellar like two caged hungry wolves (which at the moment they were).

His dad's and Regulus's presence had helped them a bit because a pack was still a pack and while his dad was challenging uncle Remus in a mock-fight of dominance, his mum had settled for cleaning her puppy thoroughly with her tongue, which Regulus allowed knowing that his presence was calming her down. But that still hadn't averted several injuries which his mum and uncle Remus had suffered.

When the moon had finally rose the next day after sunset Regulus helped his dad lead his mum and uncle Remus to their bedrooms and helped in cleaning their wounds, which weren't deep or life threatening but for sure uncomfortable and would take few days to heal properly.

Then, tired from a whole day spent in their canine forms Regulus had collapsed with his dad in the foot of the bed and slept peacefully the rest of the night.

The morning had brought Mrs Longbottom with a worried look on her face, which lead to a quarrel with his dad over something Regulus was too tired to concentrate to overhear and understand properly. But it had ended for him with a solid breakfast and a sleeping potion which allowed him another few hours long nap.

Charlie had returned in the afternoon of 28th with a huge smile on his face and homemade pumpkin pastries.

"You look like shit," was the first thing Charlie said when he ran into Regulus's room. "Stomach bug?" he asked in mild concern.

"Nothing too serious, just a nocturnal snack which didn't sit well," Regulus yawned. "How was at the Weasleys?" he quickly changed the subject.

"Wolfish," Charlie admitted. "By any chance you didn't hear anything that some crazy werewolf had attacked a family of four yesterday and had murdered all of them? I wonder why Ministry don't put werewolves down if they are so vicious."

"You are generalising and showing an incredibly closed mind," Regulus snorted grimly. "Surely influenced by those who had never meet a werewolf," he added.

"Why I would like to meet one?" Charlie shrugged.

"I hadn't heard you complaining about werewolves for all the time you had stayed here, in fact you seemed very pleased of being in their close vicinity and being treated like a favoured nephew by them!" Regulus snarled as he sat up and started getting out of the bed.

"I don't understand," Charlie mumbled.

"My mum and uncle Remus are werewolves you cretin!" Regulus bellowed before he ran out of the room, looking frantically for his dad.

With whom he had collided at the stairs between their landings.

"Charlie is being a bigot, dad," Regulus huffed.

"I heard," dad grimaced. "Thank goodness that Hermione and Randa managed to make Minnie open-minded during her stay at Hermione's house."

"She knows?" Regulus gapped at dad.

"Randa thought that it would be better for her to know why Mirzam and Moony are sick today. She took it really well and right now is talking with Mirzam," his dad explained. "Send her upstairs, she might be able to talk some sense into her brother."

Regulus nodded and went to his parents' bedroom where he had found both Randa and Minnie seated at his mum's side.

"Minnie can you go to my room, dad needs your help with Charlie?" Regulus asked politely.

"That's Mrs Weasley and her associates in action for you," Minnie grimaced. "Some of them are terribly afraid of people who are even slightly different from normal people. I don't know why Charlie is friends with them."

She quickly hurried upstairs after that comment.

"She is feisty little thing," his mum sighed. "She reminds me so much of Lily, the old Lily from before that madness. We weren't close friends, mind you. But Lily was drawn to those who weren't able to defend themselves against the crowd, to those faint of heart and troubled mind. For many she was a dear friend."

"What had changed?" Regulus asked quietly.

"Life had changed, we had changed," his mum sighed heavily and she looked sadly at Regulus though he didn't understand why mum could be sad because of him.

"Minnie wants dad to teach her how to be an Animagus," Randa said suddenly. "I'm sure that she will succeed in both, persuading dad to teach her and finish the transformation. Was it really bad, mum?"

"I already said that it was nothing I didn't lived through already," his mum said with small smile.

"You said that when Minnie was in the room. Don't forget that Reggie and I know you better than she does," Randa said briskly.

"I chewed my left hand off before your brother managed to persuade me to use my maternal instinct on him," mum smiled again. "Though I still feel like something the cat dragged in… through poodles of mud and several sticks and stones on the way home."

"One day we will find a cure, mum," Regulus said as he seated himself next to his mum and hugged her.

"There is one," Randa muttered darkly. "I had found it in France when you and uncle Moony were sightseeing the village. But mum refuses to use it."

"Why?" Regulus asked quickly.

"First because it's dark magic, very dark, so dark that dad almost fainted when I showed it to him and as you know dad is very prone to fainting," Randa grimaced. "Secondly because it requires murdering the werewolf who bit you for the ritual which needs lots of blood. Mum and dad forbid me from showing it to uncle Remus, who doesn't know who had bitten him and mum refuses to say who turned her."

"It was me…" came soft whisper from the doorway. When Regulus and Randa turned their heads they saw their uncle Remus leaning heavily against the doorframe "Mirzam…"

"Say it and I will hex your self-sacrificing, noble ass into bloody Ecuador!" his mum growled angrily as she propped herself on the bed. "It's my right to say no and that's my bloody choice. I won't buy myself a normal life for the life of my brother and uncle of my children! It was a freaking accident that you had bitten me and it was more of my fault in it that it was yours. You had no control over your actions while I did. Say it again and you will find yourself at the receiving end of the Curse of Bursting Testicles!"

_Ouch..._

"That sounds pretty convincing to me," Randa smirked before she ran to her uncle Remus and slowly lead him to the bed to sit down. "Don't worry, uncle Moony, we will find a way to give both of your freedom from the curse without shedding too much of your blood."

"She is really your daughter, Mirzam," Remus said gently. "My little girl, I pray to Merlin that life won't rob your of your kind heart and optimistic nature," he added as he petted Randa's cheek.

"Don't worry uncle Moony, Reggie will be right behind to avenge it," Randa smiled as she winked at Regulus.

"And to put you together afterwards," Reggie smirked. "No one would dare to mess with the two of us."

"Of that I have no doubt," his mum giggled.

The full moon and everything connected to it wasn't Regulus's only worry. Ever since meeting the Potters kids he continued to have nightmares and strange dreams. Of a boy who looked a lot like Charlie watching himself in the strange mirror. Of dad falling through the archway that had murderous drapery (that was constantly resurfacing, at least every third night if not often). Of professor Dumbledore falling from high tower after being hit by uncle Severus's Killing Curse (completely unreasonable because no matter how much uncle Severus complained about grandpa Albie every occupant of 12 Grimmauld Place knew how much uncle Severus owed to and respected grandpa Albie for). There was also a recurring dream of a girl with long dark red-hair which was disturbingly similar to Charlie's little fangirl.

Finally after tenth night in a row of suffering from weird dreams Regulus had lost his patience and worrying that he might start lose his mind he started writing each vision down, along with visions he wrote also how he felt after waking up: sometimes filled with dread, sometimes relaxed, sometimes tired.

His state didn't go unnoticed, especially by his dad and mum. His mum contacted his uncle Severus for a mild sleeping potion with calming properties but after nearly three weeks of using it he still had visions.

It was later in afternoon after the spat between Regulus and Charlie, who had apologised to Regulus and his mum for his behaviour. Regulus's mum had accepted it immediately. Regulus did too, grudgingly.

Once done with his snack and a third round of repacking (because he couldn't decide which books he should leave and which he should take with himself to Hogwarts), he had walked into his dad's study, looking for 'Guide to Keeping Yourself Alive' by Evan Folkestone and had found his uncle Severus seated at his dad's desk.

"Hey," he smiled quickly. "Mum is upstairs. The potion didn't work this month."

"I know," uncle Severus sighed. "Your father had informed me about it at great lengths. I brought the potions for your mother and uncle which your father is administering right now but it wasn't what really brought me here."

"And what did?" Regulus asked curiously. "Don't get me wrong but you never visit us so close to the beginning of the term uncle Severus."

"Your parents seemed very alarmed with the change in your sleeping patterns. It would seem that the potion which your mother requested for you isn't working properly," uncle Severus said quietly.

"It works," Regulus answered and grimaced. "But I'm still having these weird dreams, though less frequently than I used to."

"Tell me more about them," his uncle Severus said thoughtfully. "From which perspective you see them, as some who participates in them or as a bystander to whom no one pays attention? Are some of those dreams recurring? Do they leave any emotion connected to them? Do they feel alien or familiar?"

Regulus sat down in the chair opposite to his uncle Severus and brought his knees to his chest before he answered nervously, "I participate in them, especially in the one when dad died. For some time I thought that someone else was calling out his name but after several of them I realised that it was me calling his name. That's one of recurring ones, the others are even more absurd. In one dad and I are cornered by hundreds of cloaked figures but I cannot really see their faces, dad is injured and unconscious and I really don't know what to do. In the other I'm standing at the top of some tower with Professor Dumbledore, you and some other people then you shot a Killing Curse at Professor Dumbledore and are hurrying away. In another you are killed by a huge snake. There is also one which doesn't seem like a nightmare: I'm walking through the forest and I feel mortified with fear even though I don't know why I should be afraid."

"Do the things you see are getting blurred during those dreams?" his uncle Severus asked curiously.

"Sometimes," Regulus admitted. "Especially when I'm concentrating on one thing, like watching Professor Dumbledore and you, I cannot recognise other faces in that dream even if I know that there are some people around you. Am I getting mad, uncle Severus?"

"And those feelings in your dreams?" his uncle Severus asked. "Are they yours or do they seem to belong to someone else?"

"They seem like mine," Regulus admitted. "Though several are unfamiliar to me. Especially the bitter one which is with me in that tower when Professor Dumbledore dies and when I'm walking through the forest. They are almost tangible and they hurt very much."

His uncle Severus tapped his right forefinger against his lips before he said slowly, "You aren't going mad. That's evident."

"Thank Merlin," Regulus mumbled. "Then what is causing these weird dreams?" Regulus asked nervously.

His uncle Severus again tapped his right forefinger against his lips before he spoke softly, "I don't know Regulus, I really don't know. Nevertheless I'm asking you to watch closely these dreams, writing them down together with feelings they bring. At the same time I want you to not encourage them… Perhaps we will find a reason, perhaps we won't… Be careful."

"Regulus Sirius Black!" carried through the house. "Come here at once!"

"What's that noise?" his uncle Severus muttered.

"That would be Randa," Regulus gulped. "Mads got into her room, she has unhealthy obsession with Randa's pompons."

"Mads is hardly appropriate name for a cat," uncle Severus grimaced.

"Her full name is Madness, Charlie named his cat Insanity, Nity for short," Regulus chuckled.

"Jasmine Lily Potter! Do something with your dog!" Randa's yell carried through the house again.

"Miranda Mirzam Black! Stop acting like offended princess!" his dad's voice carried through the house. "Come back here at once, Sam!" followed soon after.

Moment later Regulus was tackled by the dog to the floor.

"This is madness," his uncle Severus muttered.

And Regulus got a feeling that this statement had nothing to do with his weird dreams.

*

After quick dinner overcome by slight feeling of nostalgia he made his way to drawing room and seated himself in front of the family tree.

He gazed longingly at the name of his namesake. He had few uncles, like his uncle Moony and uncle Severus, several distant ones, like uncle Ted (aunt Andromeda's husband), uncle Ignatius or uncle Lucius (he used that name only once at some Ministry gala before which his dad practically begged him to call Mr Malfoy after that) but all of them were sort of adopted into the family or weren't family at all (like Lucius, though his wife was one of dad's cousins).

It wasn't that he didn't care for them, he did, well except Mr Malfoy (he never gave a damn about him actually and his son was a little horror), he truly cared for them but they weren't his blood family and some part of Regulus yearned to know his blood family (after all due to the potion he was a Black by blood).

The grandpa Orion fiasco from June was mostly forgotten but the feelings, the desire to have one close relative other than his dad or mum or Randa were still there.

"Stargazing?" Randa asked quietly.

Regulus smiled, yeah, watching family tree felt a bit like stargazing. Sirius, Regulus, Cygnus, Pollux, Orion, Arcturus, Alphard, Andromeda, hence even Bellatrix (true fruitcake according to dad).

"I feel a bit nostalgic," he admitted.

"Me too," Randa admitted. "You will write, won't you?"

"Of course that I will, Randa," Regulus said solemnly.

"I will miss it, miss you," Randa added quietly as she seated herself next to him and slowly laid her head on his shoulder. "I know that Minnie will be there but it won't be the same. What if we won't be in the same house when I will go to Hogwarts? I don't want us to become like dad and uncle Regulus."

"Don't worry, Randa," Regulus smiled. "We won't. Remember grandma Wally and grandpa Orion were second cousins so dad and uncle Reg were more prone to bouts of insanity than we are. Besides different houses won't be too much of a problem, you know, mum and dad were in different houses and they got along just fine."

"More than fine," Randa mumbled. "You think that dad would be angry or disappointed if I tell him that I want to be in Slytherin or Ravenclaw?"

"I thought that I was supposed to have this talk with Reggie and Charlie only," his dad chuckled softly. "But now that I have all of you here let me get the matter straight."

Regulus turned his head and spotted nervous and guilty looking Charlie behind his dad's back as well as eager Minnie.

Quickly Regulus and Randa picked themselves from the ground and seated themselves in front of the armchair in which his dad sat down along with Charlie and Minnie.

"I want you to get through your heads that no one would think of you any less if you got sorted into different houses," his dad said firmly.

"Even Slytherin?" Charlie mumbled nervously.

"Even Slytherin," dad confirmed. "Though personally I would prefer to not have any of you there, not because of my personal dislike of the house of Slytherin but rather out of concern that some children who are or possibly will be there would be, let's say they will be less than welcome to have you amongst them."

"If we would have problems there then there is always uncle Severus," Regulus said simply.

"Oh, really?" his dad looked at him pointedly and Regulus blushed, what was private was private but who was public was entirely different matter.

"Well I guess that for me or Charlie Slytherin isn't really an option," Regulus said quickly. "For Randa or Minnie probably, there will be one of the Greengrass sisters there in two years and they were always nice but spending seven years in the same room with the platinum git is seven years too much than I would be able to stand."

"Mum and dad would want us to be in Gryffindor," Charlie mumbled.

"Mine wanted me to be in Slytherin," dad shrugged simply.

"Did you?" Minnie asked curiously.

"I didn't," dad shook his head. "I had chosen Gryffindor."

"See," Charlie pointed out.

"Houses really don't matter, Charlie," Regulus's dad shook his head. "They are just that, houses, no one expects of you to make friends with all members of your house. You make friends with people you like, with people you deem trustworthy… you will find them in all the houses at Hogwarts, just like you will find untrustworthy ones. The colour of the tie is not a reason to not be friends with someone."

"How we are going to get sorted into them?" Charlie asked curiously. "Fred and George had mentioned something about wrestling with a troll."

"Fred and George are funny young boys but you need to take everything they say with a grain of salt," Regulus's dad smiled widely. "They are the Hogwarts resident pranksters and I have no doubt that they came out with a troll just to tease you and Ronald."

"So there is something different…" Charlie mumbled.

"The Sorting Hat, the talking tiara which looks into your head and sorts you into one of the houses. Quite simple and not something you should be worried about," Regulus's dad said simply.

Charlie didn't seem to look convinced.

When the time to go to beds had arrived Charlie had followed Regulus upstairs to his room and stopped in the doorway when Regulus collapsed on the bed and started pulling off his socks.

"I'm sorry," Charlie mumbled. "For today, it was very rude of me to say all those things."

"Doesn't matter," Regulus shrugged uncomfortably. "You apologised to mum and uncle Remus, didn't you?"

Charlie nodded.

"Then no harm done," Regulus said simply. "Just think twice before you will say something like that next time."

"I will," Charlie sighed. "You really think that your dad is right about the houses?"

"Experience only confirms that," Regulus said. "Dad was in Gryffindor, Mum was in Ravenclaw, uncle Severus was in Slytherin, aunt Bathsheba – mum's friend you hadn't meet her yet, was in Ravenclaw too, Dora my cousin was in Hufflepuff, she just graduated from Hogwarts."

"Your mum said something about thinking for ourselves and not letting others lead us by the hand around the world," Charlie said.

"I see a lot of leading by the hand in the future," Regulus grinned. "Hogwarts corridors are simply a labyrinth."

"How do you know that?" Charlie asked curiously.

"I spend my early childhood at Hogwarts," Regulus answered simply. "Until I was about five or something and we moved here and later we spent practically every full moon there, if not in the houses of mum and dad's friends."

"Were you ever scared?" Charlie asked as he seated himself on Regulus's bed next to him.

"About mum and uncle Remus?" Regulus yawned. "Ever since I discovered that there is a day when mum, dad and uncle Remus are away from me and I'm with other people who aren't them and always after that day dad is looking very worried and mum and uncle Remus are injured and need to stay in bed for a while. I was about three, maybe little older. I fully understood what was going on at the age of four."

"And about yourself and Randa?" Charlie asked timidly.

"I was never worried about me and Randa when mum and uncle Remus's conditions were concerned, Charlie. At first because we were always gone on the day of the full moon and later Randa and I got the means to protect ourselves in case the potion wouldn't work."

"Means?" Charlie asked curiously. "An armour or something like that?"

"Kind of something like that," Regulus smiled knowingly. "You will learn about it sooner or later. Now dad has to think it over handful of times, though I'm sure that Randa and Minnie will help him in coming to successful conclusion."

"Can you be less cryptic?" Charlie sighed.

"If I was I wouldn't be Regulus Black," Regulus smirked. "Come on, let's go to sleep, we have quite busy day tomorrow."

"Huh?" Charlie mumbled.

"Your potions quiz," Regulus chuckled. "I'm not letting you go to our first lesson unprepared."

*

Time had flown like mad for Regulus especially with quizzing Charlie, keeping Minnie and Randa from doing something dangerous while mum and uncle Remus were still not strong enough to follow them all the time and dad was at the Ministry (he was supposedly on Holidays but there came the case of a blackmailer and dad had to help the group which was appointed to that case) even if he hadn't spent more than three or four hours per day there.

When 31st August had arrived the madness had reached its brink. Regulus and Charlie had done so much packing and repacking of their things that Regulus's mum hexed their trunks to not open, which sent Regulus into panic because he had failed to check whatever or not he had packed his Transfiguration textbook.

He begged her for fifteen minutes to allow him to check if he packed his book, then he managed to throw also several books for light reading. Happy with himself he let mum lock his trunk and it was then when Kreacher had appeared with the laundry when it struck Regulus that he hadn't seen his underwear anywhere.

After devoting another fifteen minutes to extracting everything from the trunk and putting it back in proper order under mum's watchful eye Regulus's trunk was packed properly and stored downstairs. Within a half hour it was joined by Charlie's trunk and it seemed that they wouldn't need to put anything in it.

When his dad had come home just in time for an early lunch he promised to take Charlie and Minnie to St Mungo's to visit their parents (like they usually did, twice a week). The trip hadn't taken long and they had returned within an hour together with some ice-cream and a movie.

Then the time for dinner arrived and the real madness ensued for good.

Completely busied with spending time with Randa, Minnie and Charlie between helping his mum and uncle Remus occasionally Regulus had failed to acknowledge that his dad had arranged with several of his co-workers and acquaintances that those who had to work tomorrow and were unable to send off their children on their own could leave them at Grimmauld Place.

Hermione's and Neville's arrival was quite natural. That Hermione was supposed to leave together with him and Charlie Regulus had knew for about two months because her parents were supposed to leave for New York right after dropping her at Grimmauld Place, they were leaving for some incredibly important dental conference.

Hermione, like Regulus had eagerly awaited her Hogwarts letter ever since she learned that she was a witch. It had been a while but Regulus still remembered their first meeting well.

On the square in the middle of Grimmauld Place, there was a small patch of green which contrasted with dull and grim houses located around it. There was a playground with a slide, several swings and a sandbox. Regulus spent his nearly a year at Grimmauld Place at gazing longingly from his window at the playground.

Playgrounds were for kids to play in them but this one was like Grimmauld Place, dull, blank and full of broken things. His parents seemed to agree with him because whenever they left Grimmauld Place through the front door mum and dad stared longingly at that excuse of a playground.

Suddenly after a year spent at gazing through windows and giving side-way glances something had started to change. One day the broken slide was repaired and painted scarlet red. Another day the two swings which lacked proper chains for the benches were put into places and painted purple. After two days the merry-go-round which lacked seats was equipped with new benches, received new chains and was painted green. Within a week grim playground became colourful and clean place for kids to play. It was as if some magic Regulus didn't know about was working and had found himself wandering who had fixed the broken things.

So he managed to persuade Randa and uncle Remus to help in learning the identity of that person. After several acrobatics which involved deceiving his mum and dad into believing that Reggie and Randa were sleeping Reg, Randa and uncle Remus had hid themselves in the bushes in the square.

They didn't have to wait very long because less than fifteen minutes had passed as the door to one of the houses located around Grimmauld Place had opened and they heard the footsteps nearing the playground.

"It's beautiful," gentle voice, his mum's voice had said softly. "You devoted a lot of work to it."

"Few reparos, bit of colour," his dad said simply. "I had enough of staring at a tomb of our childhood."

"I remember," his mum said happily. "You were eight and riding that infernal bike of yours, about two sizes too big for you, emerald green. I was seven and swinging on that swing," his mum said as she approached and sat down on one of the swings. "You looked at me and fell from that bike…"

"My male ego didn't allow me to say that I had done nothing but scrapped my knee," his dad chuckled. "But you saw that I twisted my ankle and healed me."

"Admit it," his mum giggled. "It was that day, wasn't it?"

"It was, I didn't realise that until much more later. But yes, in the moment you looked at me with those big, violet eyes you fell into my heart and didn't leave ever since," his dad said with a tone which Regulus heard in his voice sometimes when his parents were sure that neither Regulus or Randa heard them.

"Remember when I had chicken pox?" his mum said cheerfully.

"I would never forget that look of shock at your parents faces, Moonchild from number six," his dad said wolfishly.

"They were good times, happy times," his mum said pensively. "I hope that one day …"

What his mum wanted to say Regulus didn't hear.

Nevertheless since his dad fixed the playground many kids from the neighbourhood used it to play, Regulus amongst them too, though rarer than other kids because he spent most of his time reading but when he was in mood to go out there was no problem when his uncle Remus (mostly) or his mum or dad (both less frequently) were nearby.

It happened on one of the early days of May when the sun was shining brightly but not too brightly for the Grimmauld Place kids to run around in short trousers or dresses. It was late afternoon and several of the girls and boys, though older than Reggie were observing the truck of the moving company which was parked in front of the number six. Several men were nearly for the entire day bringing furniture in the house.

The kids were guessing who was moving in and Mad Mike, the oldest, a thirteen years old boy which had an opinion of a bully when he was hungry had asked one of men who was moving in.

He had came back to other kids with an information that to number six was moving the Granger family, thirty something years old dentists with a daughter around the age of seven or eight with really weird name, Herma or something.

But it was few days before anyone saw the mysterious girl from number six. Regulus who at the time when the girl finally went outside was visiting his grandfather had missed the first meeting but from other kids had learned that Herma was a boring bookworm and a definite spoilsport, not worth crying over.

He had to admit that this description had challenged him and he vowed himself to not rest until he would meet that mysterious girl.

Soon the possibility had presented itself. It was Sunday around ten or eleven in the morning. The playground was deserted because the other kids were at home getting ready to leave with their parents to go to church.

From his spot amongst the bushes, in which he situated himself – after telling his very surprised dad who that day was free from work and wanted to spend time with him that he is on a mission of befriending that new girl from number six – with Padfoot in close vicinity and waited.

About twenty minutes after seating himself in his hiding spot he heard shuffling footsteps nearing the playground. Carefully he peeked his head from behind the bushes and saw that it was the new girl because it couldn't be any of the other girls from the neighbourhood, who were either blonde or mildly red-haired or simply black-haired. This girl had long, curly brown hair pulled into a messy ponytail.

She shuffled her way through the path to the swings and seated herself with a heavy sigh at one of them.

"Stupid," she snorted as she kicked her foot of the ground and started swinging herself. "Stupid. Oh, Hermione, you really should go out, meet new kids, get friends, stop being a hermit."

She swung herself few more times and muttered, "Who needs friends like these rascals. I'm fine on my own."

Regulus was contemplating whether or not he should leave the bushes when a very loud bark coming from just inches away from his ear made him yelp in a completely unmanly manner and spring away from his hiding spot.

Of course running away from the dog, who could have been his dad or just another dog, Regulus turned his head around to take a look at his offender but it wasn't very fortunate action because he had tripped on a fallen stick and landed flat on his face, scrapping his knees

The girl quickly hurried to his side and helped him pick up himself.

"You are hurt," she said in concern.

"It's nothing," Regulus mumbled, trying to keep his male pride. "Nothing I hadn't been through before."

"Don't joke about it," the girl puffed. "It could get infected and then it would heal worse. You don't want to be ill just because of scrapped knees. Sit," she ordered and manoeuvred him to overturned bin, then she quickly knelt in front of him and started examining his bloodied knees. "It looks nasty."

"Mum will heal it quickly," Regulus mumbled quickly.

"Let me help you," the girl said eagerly. "At least tell me the number of the house in which you live so I can tell your mother that you hurt yourself."

Regulus couldn't allow that. Male ego aside, girl's niceness aside, but he couldn't let her do that for several reasons connected to number 12 Grimmauld Place security.

"Don't worry, I will be fine," he said as he stood up.

The girl yelped and looked at his knees with a expression as if she saw knees for the first time in her life.

"Oh, no," she mumbled. "Not again."

"No… what exactly?" Regulus asked curiously and looked down at his knees, there was no sign of injury, no scrap or even a single drop of blood.

He frowned and cursed himself for using accidental magic in front of a Muggle girl. But then it occurred him that his accidental magic had never manifested itself this way. Things like summoning or blowing up something had happened often but once he got bruised his bruises had stayed on him until his mum or dad or uncle Remus had healed him.

That meant that it had to be that girl, certainly not his dad who was sitting in his Animagi form on the path with a curious expression on his muzzle.

"I'm sorry," the girl mumbled as she quickly scrambled from the ground and started getting away.

Regulus couldn't allow her to leave, at least not yet.

"Hermione!" he yelled after her. "Hermione wait!"

She didn't listen and simply hurried away, through the square into her home, shutting the door behind her with a loud slam.

"Patience is a virtue, especially with girls," he heard his dad's voice from behind.

"She is a witch," Regulus said quickly. "She healed my knees."

"Are you sure?" his dad asked slightly sceptically. "It could have been you…"

"Dad when I get bruised my bruises stay on me and not vanish until mum takes care of them," Regulus snorted. "How I will be able to persuade her to leave the house again?"

"You can walk to the door, wait for an answer and ask politely," his dad said simply.

"What you would do if you were in my place?" Regulus asked sceptically.

"Stalk her," his dad shrugged. "Observe carefully in neutral surroundings and get solid confirmation that she is indeed a witch."

"That stalk her part worries me slightly," Regulus commented.

But he did, observe not stalk. The next Sunday he hid himself in exactly the same spot and observed Hermione, while she read her book on the swings. Nothing had happened until Regulus had spotted Mad Mike with a big stone in his hand not to far away from Hermione.

He wanted to yell but his voice didn't leave him because the stone thrown by Mike at Hermione bounced away as if meeting some invisible shield. Mike stared at her with a weird look at his face before he grabbed another big stone and threw it at Hermione.

"Hermione look out!" Regulus yelled.

Hermione looked quickly in his direction, exactly the wrong direction in which she was supposed to look and the stone collided with her head, making her fall from the swing with a thud, her book discarded.

Regulus cursed himself and quickly send a stick slicing through the air in a whacking motion after Mike who yelped like a pansy and run to his house. By the time Mike had reached his house Regulus was at Hermione's side, quickly followed by his dad.

"Hard blow," dad grimaced. "No serious brain damage but a mild concussion," he added after casting quick diagnostic spell on Hermione. "Let's get her to our home, your mother has potions for it."

"Can I kill Mike in the meantime?" Regulus growled.

"I will do it, ladies first, scoundrels later," his dad said quickly as he scoped Hermione into his arms and hurried to their home, with Regulus at his heels.

What followed later was a lot of tears, lot of squeals and continuous mumblings that Hermione was losing her mind, according to Hermione herself at least. It took them a solid hour to convince Hermione that she wasn't mad, they weren't evil, she wasn't spawn of satan.

But it was an invitation to dinner at 12 Grimmauld Place, together with her parents which fully convinced Hermione that magic in fact existed. Her parents after getting over their initial shock had admitted that weird things indeed happened around Hermione and they were very relieved that in a way it was normal by some standards.

From that day onward Hermione was a very often and very welcomed guest who had befriended both Regulus and Miranda and later, after some convincing, Neville.

A lot had changed in the span of four years, Hermione grew up, into a monster, as Regulus's mum used to joke, who occupied the library with the same frequency as Regulus and Randa and quite a pretty girl. Not the most beautiful girl Regulus ever saw; he had seen far more beautiful girls but Hermione had that thing, that special charm around her and her eyes which shone like a pair of diamonds every time she found something interesting and wanted to share it with Regulus or Randa and Neville.

During the last month Hermione's continuous presence had gotten on Charlie's nerves, to Regulus's constant amusement. Firstly, she was a girl. Secondly, Regulus's friend, best friend, a fact alone which made Charlie very uncomfortable being a friend with a girl, who wasn't your sister, who had heard of that. Thirdly, because Hermione had made her personal goal, though Regulus knew that she was doing it unintentionally, not really meaning any harm, to prove how little Charlie had known of magical world, less than a Muggleborn girl.

Neville's arrival was a bit of a surprise, but a welcomed one and as it turned out it was entirely Neville's idea to allow his parents to depart to India at decent hour instead unholy four o'clock in the morning two days later (Mrs and Mr Longbottom were leaving for International Exchange of Aurors).

What actually really had surprised Regulus was the arrival of Daphne Greengrass, quickly followed by a brooding Theodore Nott a combination which caused fireworks almost every single time.

Regulus wasn't best friends with Theodore Nott. One could hardly call their acquaintance as friendship when Regulus was open, Theodore was a hermit. But nevertheless they had spent several weeks in each other company and had managed to work out a compromise. Though Theodore's younger sister, Alana, had became friends with Randa almost instantly, something which Regulus could understand fairly quickly considering their matching ages and Alana's tragic loss.

What brought Mrs Nott and her son and daughter to the Black manor was the murder of Alana's twin sister, Alma. Mrs Nott was one of Regulus's mum's acquaintances from Hogwarts (of course before she had got married to Mr Nott) and she had found her refuge in their home, telling the sad story of Alma's death with tears in her eyes.

Regulus's dad very carefully interviewed not only Mrs Nott but Theodore and Alana as well and learned the gruesome details of the murder which Mr Nott committed before he devoted six weeks of chasing Mr Nott around the country, six weeks which Mrs Nott had spent at their house, fearing leaving the house that her other children would meet Alma's fate.

But Mr Nott was rotting in Azkaban for the last three years and Mrs Nott had moved back to her maiden home and had taken both Alana and Theodore with her.

During these three years Regulus had exchanged several letters with Theodore, far less than Randa and Alana did.

Nevertheless Regulus felt happy when he saw Theodore though a desperate look on his face had worried Regulus slightly.

Miraculously upon seeing Theodore and hearing the surname Nott Charlie had hurried to the other side of the kitchen without backward glance.

"How have things been Teddy?" Regulus asked quietly.

"Bad," Theodore admitted. "Really bad. I shouldn't even be here, but mother insisted so much that…" Theodore shook his head. "She is getting worse and worse and with that… that monster… I really don't want to end up with the Malfoys or Crabbes or Goyles. I'm though and I will manage but Alana."

"Talk with my parents, Teddy. They will help you and your mum," Regulus assured him quickly. "Dad will sooner put all three families in Azkaban rather than allow them to take you and Alana and mum would sweet-talk Dumbledore and whole Hogwarts staff into allowing you to visit your mother as often as possible."

"You think?" Theodore asked nervously.

"I know my parents, Teddy," Regulus nodded. "Go, the sooner you will talk with them the sooner you will feel better."

Theodore nodded nervously and hurried away in direction of Regulus's dad.

Regulus in the meantime greeted Daphne. Dannie, how most kids who had meet her had dubbed her (and she quickly accepted it without any fuss) was petite for her age and quite a pudgy blonde with amber eyes. But her appearance couldn't be more deceiving. She was a very straightforward girl with a dry sense of humour which could put Regulus, Randa, Hermione and Neville at their best and combined together into total shame without much effort.

Dannie was a daughter of one of dad's acquaintances from the Auror Office but when her and her younger sister Astoria's, affectionately called Storia or less affectionately Terrier, their dad had died five years earlier in an attack at Diagon Alley. Their mother had moved on and had married within six months some Quidditch player, who quickly dragged the whole family into his debts and then vanished leaving Mrs Greengrass with two daughters, a third of his debts, empty handed and pregnant. With a little help from various people as soon as a third girl, Tisiphone (a name which really didn't bode well for runaway daddy) was born Mrs Greengrass had opened a small business, an Inn in a very popular area for wizarding vacations and Dannie and Storia quickly adapted themselves as the inn's entertainment. That didn't leave a lot of time for them to have friends their age but when they were finally visiting.

"Reggie!" Dannie squalled happily. "You grew up since I saw you for the last time," she added taking a good look at him.

At the age of eleven, and weighing a solid seventy-nine pounds, he was classifying as barely being in the average weight range for a boy his age and being five feet and one inch tall he was successfully outgrowing other kids his age, all, probably even Ron and Theodore, by an inch and half or less, Hermione by three inches and Charlie and Neville by five and half and four inches respectively – another thing which made Charlie slightly uncomfortable, being outgrown by a girl, but then again Hermione was almost a whole year older than them being born in September. Dannie herself was balancing at the far end of the scale with being eight inches shorter than Regulus.

"You grew up too, Dannie," Regulus said quickly.

"Liar," Dannie rolled her eyes, as she swatted him playfully. "I hadn't grow even an inch since last summer. Now look at Hermione, that's a tall girl."

"She was born in September, Dannie," Regulus said simply. "Of course she is taller than you because she older than you by eight months."

"When we're at Hogwarts I'm going to observe what she eats to grow so tall. Perhaps if I eat what she eats I will be five feet before graduating from Hogwarts," Dannie giggled and hurried to Hermione's side to greet her.

"Girls?" his dad, who approached Regulus from behind asked.

"Dannie has problems with her height, dad," Regulus shrugged. "And naturally envies Hermione's grow spurt. So does Randa and Minnie."

"You know that early grow spurts don't end well …" his dad said with a smirk.

"Well, look who's talking, Mr Six Feet Two and Half Inches," Regulus said cheekily. "I'm supposed to have your genes so I will be at least six feet**." **

"Wishful thinking," his dad chuckled.

"Wanna bet?" Regulus said mockingly.

It took him less than three minutes to get out of his dad's clutches with little help from the other kids, who were caught up by Regulus's squeal of horror when yet again he was forcibly reminded that he was still by heaps smaller than his dad.

*

It was close to midnight when Regulus's bedroom was raided by Charlie, Neville and Theodore, who assured him that an earthquake wouldn't be able to wake up the girls, who slept down the hall in Randa's and Minnie's bedroom (because Dannie wanted to catch up with Hermione and Randa happily lent Hermione her bedroom and went to sleep in Minnie's bedroom).

"Reggie?" nervous mumble tore through the air and robed Regulus from the desire to sleep.

"Am ake," Regulus mumbled into his pillow and waved his right hand above his head. "Was up?"

"Your parents are," Theodore said nervously. "Talking."

"So?" Regulus mumbled as he sat up and rubbed his eyes to chase the sleep away. "They do it a lot."

"About someone called Bathsheba," Charlie clarified.

"Ah, aunt Batty," Regulus yawned. "No need to worry, especially you Teddy."

"How do you know that?" Theodore asked nervously.

"Aunt Batty is a lawyer and ex-prosecutor, mum's friend from Hogwarts, sort like adopted sister in a matter of speaking. Dad never lost a case when she was a prosecutor, he gave the evidence she used during trials," Regulus explained simply.

"And what aunt Batty…" Charlie started curiously.

"That depends…" Regulus shrugged. "On whose name was mentioned more times during the conversation."

"Teddy's," Neville said quickly. "Though Charlie's and Minnie's were mentioned several times."

"I wonder why…" Regulus yawned. "From what I heard they still didn't catch the last… you know."

"Then you heard what I did," Charlie grimaced. "Why close the case now?"

"Because you more often close open things rather than leaving them open?" Teddy suggested thoughtfully. "Reggie, you know your dad and have more information than we do. How often has your dad left open a case which when it was closed could technically have been closed much more earlier?" he asked curiously.

"Several times," Regulus sighed. "He constantly reopens the case of Lucius Malfoy for example. Minister constantly closes it, dad opens. It has been going for as long as I've lived. Perhaps even longer."

"It's just a thought," Teddy said grimly. "But what if your dad and the Aurors already had all attackers who had attacked Charlie's parents caught much more earlier but he had left it hanging for some reason?"

"Barty Crouch junior," Regulus shrugged. "From what I managed to get out from dad is that Barty was caught with the Death Eaters who had tortured Mrs and Mr Potter."

"So?" Charlie asked sceptically.

"What you don't know Charlie and Nev and Teddy don't remember and I only know because my dad is who he is… is that Barty Crouch junior was already caught and sent to Azkaban to serve a lifelong sentence in top security cell … nearly ten years ago," Regulus said grimly.

"So what? He got let out for good behaviour or something like that," Charlie shrugged.

"You can't get out from lifetime sentence in top security cell in Azkaban for good behaviour," Regulus snorted grimly. "No such a thing even exists, especially on top security cells," he shook his head quickly. "But here is a curious thing, about nine years ago Barty Crouch junior was buried in the Crouch family vault, rather quickly, quietly like a shame to his father who he truly was."

"Then someone is wrong," Charlie said quickly. "Perhaps the wrong man was sent to Azkaban and he had died there."

"And then he mysteriously comes back from beyond the grave nine years later and commits exactly the same crime for which he was sent to Azkaban just on different people?" Regulus asked sceptically. "Crime at the moment is irrelevant, no offence Charlie, but that return from the dead is far more interesting."

"Your point being?" Charlie asked sceptically.

"That, to use a dictionary for which my mum would scurgify my and dad's mouth, someone had screwed up with the Aurors, Wizengamont and Azkaban guards. For a stunt like that heads deserve to roll, especially of those who allowed themselves to be fooled and those who had fooled them," Regulus explained.

"Wait a moment you said that Crouch committed exactly the same crime, just on different people?" Charlie mumbled.

"Yes," Regulus nodded. "But last time around Barty was caught in different company, of known Death Eaters for whose heads were appointed prices and those people had less luck than your parents. I know that your parents are in bad state but they at least have hope for a recovery in the end. The Prewett brothers weren't that lucky."

"Prewett?" Charlie mumbled. "That name rings a bell."

"Mrs Weasley's younger brothers, Gideon and Fabian, Aurors serving under dad's command in the Omega division. When he was heading it while we were just babies," Regulus clarified.

"What happened to them?" Charlie asked timidly.

"Two hours of rounds upon rounds of Cruciatus cast one after another by six Death Eaters," Neville said shakily. "Two were caught with him and sent to Azkaban … other three…"

"Had attacked mum and dad?" Charlie whispered.

"No," Neville said blankly and looked at Regulus pleadingly.

"Other three were caught several months later," Regulus said quietly as he reached over and squeezed Neville's shoulder. "While they were torturing Neville's parents."

"If it wasn't for Reggie's dad…" Neville shook his head. "Half of hour. That was all it took. I heard my parents talking about it much more later… It was Reggie's dad who had killed the Death Eater who was torturing my mum. Mum told dad that in all the years she had knew him she had never saw Mr Black so furious like then."

"He blames himself for each failure," Teddy mumbled. "That's why he is so dedicated an Auror."

"He blames himself for each failure not because he is a dedicated Auror, Teddy," Regulus shook his head. "Each life lost is each life he thinks he could have saved. He doesn't say it but I know him and under all that cheerful exterior you know, deep down he blames himself for not foreseeing the circumstances which lead first to the Prewetts descent into madness, then to Neville's parents being heavily injured and finally yours."

"Well, I'm glad that he thinks that something could have been done to prevent mum and dad from getting hurt," Charlie said quietly. "But he isn't a prophet. He cannot know everything, can he?"

"He thinks that he should," Regulus shrugged. "Other people think that he should know better. He helped invent the system of alerts during the war which had saved more than a few people from death and fewer from serious injuries. When the Prewetts were attacked the system was just starting to be put in place. It was being installed but the Minister of Magic insisted on arranging what she had called, an order of importance, families with big positions first, commoners second. The alerts at Gideon's and Fabian's home were supposed to be installed day after the attack had occurred. There was a lack of proper communication. Pleas for back up were sent too late when heavy anti-Apparition wards were put on the place that went out for two miles. Dad blamed himself for not pressing too loudly to have the alerts installed at the households belonging to the Aurors together with the big heads. He might have been a little too vocal about blaming himself."

"So that's why your dad and Mrs Weasley can't stand each other," Neville mumbled.

"Not only," Regulus shook his head. "That was the final drop which overflew the cup of mutual animosity. The real reason is far more complex and irrational."

Three pairs of eager eyes looked at him asking silently for clarification.

"During the war with Voldemort," Regulus started and barely managed to stop rolling his eyes at the shudder which passed through other boys. "Dad, Charlie's and Ron's parents and the Prewett brothers were working in a secret group which was opposing Voldemort. It happened the same year we were born. Mrs Potter was expecting twins and Ron's mum was expecting Ron though few months earlier from what I remember from the story. The two of them became good friends and Mrs Weasley was for Mrs Potter someone like an older, more experienced sister or aunt. I'm not sure if she promised it or not but Mrs Weasley evidently expected that once Charlie and Harry would be born then she and her husband would become their godparents."

"But they didn't," Neville said quickly.

"I'm not sure how Mr Potter had played it but Neville is right. The Weasleys didn't become Charlie's and Harry's godparents because my dad was made their godfather to Mrs Weasley's utmost annoyance because she didn't consider him the most mature and responsible person around at that time and she voiced her opinion quite loudly in dad's presence. Dad told her several harsh words which she took offence and they didn't speak until after her brothers were attacked. And later…"

"After Harry died, you mean," Charlie mumbled.

"After Harry died my dad was furious with yours. I don't know the details but a lot of hurtful words were passed between them and Mrs Weasley's involvement didn't help much either. She tried to mediate between them but finally my dad lost his patience and sent both of them to hell and told them to not return," Regulus finished his explanations.

"He seems sincere when he says that there is hope for their recovery," Charlie whispered.

"Because he is truly convinced about it Charlie. Your dad and my dad were friends at Hogwarts, best friends, like brothers in everything but blood. No matter if my dad wishes or not to erase these years from his memory they happened and sometimes no matter how pissed off you are at someone, deep down you still care about them even if you sometimes want to drown them in a spoonful of incredibly bitter potion," Regulus said sadly.

"So he truly cares?" Charlie asked timidly.

"You and Minnie wouldn't live here if he didn't," Regulus pointed out. "Of course an additional perk of having you and Minnie here is … it's quite immature for him but seriously dad and Mrs Weasley bring the worst in each other. They know exactly which buttons they should push to piss the other off immensely."

"And your mum?" Charlie asked curiously.

"My mum?" Regulus blinked. "Mum is mum, she has more patience than a saint and a long time ago she gave up on mediating any fights between dad and Mrs Weasley. Says that …"

Somewhere downstairs there was a thud.

"What was that?" Regulus mumbled.

Another thud sounded through the house. Regulus quickly jumped from his bed and run to the window, wondering if the sound was coming from the outside.

And indeed it was, by the door there was a group of three people in red robes, neither looking like any Aurors he had meet and one red-head.

Regulus gritted his teeth as he opened the window and peered down. He, like his mum, was above the animosity between his dad and Mrs Weasley but if that red-head was Mrs Weasley and she was planning what he had feared that she was planning then even Merlin himself wouldn't be able to stop him from hexing the woman into next century.

"Hey!" Regulus leaned over the window as he bellowed. "Did you forget your watches? Don't you know how late it is?"

"Shut it kiddo," came a mutter from downstairs. "Tell your father to bring his arse downstairs."

"Can't," Regulus yelled through the window. "I don't take orders from people I don't know. Introduce yourself and state your business and I might consider changing my mind."

"Tell your father…" one of the people started.

"Introduce yourself and state your business and I might," Regulus called out.

"Don't take that tone with me young man," came a female snort from the red-head who suddenly raised her head and allowed Regulus to see that without doubt it was Mrs Weasley. "Tell your father to bring himself downstairs."

"Charlie your rescue party arrived!" Regulus called out even though Charlie was standing less than ten feet behind him. "They are lacking a horse but I'm sure that if you will aim your jump well you can smash one of these idiots into the ground," he added in more normal voice. "If you want to know my opinion then you should aim for Mrs Weasley because somehow I'm sure that she is the reason of that ruckus."

"Why?" Charlie mumbled.

"Isn't it obvious?" Teddy rolled his eyes. "To protect you from big, bad Auror Black."

"But it's irrational," Charlie mumbled.

"Tell her that," Regulus shrugged.

"As if it will help," Charlie snorted. "You said yourself that Mrs Weasley and your dad start acting like idiots in each other company."

"You said that, not I, I only said that they bring the worst out of each other," Regulus corrected him.

Charlie sighed and approached the window slowly.

"Hello," he called out. "You wanted to speak with me…"

Suddenly Regulus felt as if someone had turned a light in his head. It was obvious that Mrs Weasley had brought Aurors to save Charlie and Minnie from his parents' clutches and she was determined to do it no matter the price. But was she really?

His dad said once that Mrs Weasley used to be terribly superstitious in her youth and still had several superstitious habits which she didn't get rid off over the years.

The question was how superstitious Mrs Weasley still was at the moment...

"Stay here," Regulus mumbled to Neville and Teddy. "I'll be back in a moment."

Quickly he ran to second floor where was located old tunnel which once was used as one leading to garbage and he quickly slid down through it outside, changing into his Animagi form before he fell through the trapdoor.

Quietly he made several footsteps in the direction of the stairs without alerting the rescue party at the door.

"But I'm fine Mrs Weasley!" Charlie called from above. "Nothing bad is happening to me or Minnie here."

"Charlus, my dear boy please…" Mrs Weasley started.

Regulus took it as a queue and started barked loudly. Twice. Thrice. After third lack of any response from the crowd by the door he whined painfully and yowled so loudly that the nearest window started to shake.

Finally the four by the door looked at him and one by one they started paling and turning to a funny shade of ash.

"The Grim!" mumbled the man who appeared to be the youngest in the group. "We are dead."

Regulus yowled once again for a good measure and zeroed his eyes on Mrs Weasley.

"It's just a bloody dog," said another man, though he had an ashy complexion which meant that his statement was only his wishful thinking and one last act of bravery.

Regulus made several steps in their direction while yowling loudly.

"I left my cauldron on the fire," mumbled the young man and he quickly Disapparated.

"And I promised my wife…" mumbled another without even finishing his excuse as he Disapparated too.

"Don't worry Mrs Weasley…" started another.

The time had came for bigger guns. Regulus bared his teeth and without any delay jumped at the man who Disaparated just in front of him. That only left Mrs Weasley.

"Go away you spawn of Satan," Mrs Weasley whispered.

Regulus cocked his head to the right side and contemplated taking a jump behind her and biting her in the butt or just going for her leg. Both were tempting but he didn't want to hurt her, just scare her for a good measure.

So he growled, barring two rows of sharp, white teeth at Mrs Weasley, when it didn't work he repeated his action again.

Then he heard the door opening behind his back and a timid voice tore through the air.

"Mrs Weasley, please don't make a scene," Charlie whispered.

Oh, you bloody idiot why you are taking chances, Regulus screamed mentally because his current form prevented him from voicing his opinion at loud.

"They aren't allowing you or Jasmine to leave the house…" Mrs Weasley started. "We haven't even seen Jasmine since these people had kidnapped you from Neville Longbottom's party."

"We went with them willingly Mrs Weasley," Charlie said firmly. "It was in my mum's and dad's will. You can check it yourself, Mrs Weasley, that if our mum and dad are unable to take care of us then we are to be placed in Mr Black's care."

"Do you know what Mr Black had done to your parents?" Mrs Weasley huffed. "He turned his back on them."

"And dad turned his back on him. I know that he did," Charlie growled. "I can understand that there are things about which I have no idea of but I know one thing Mrs Weasley. During my stay here not even a hair fell from my or Minnie's head. They don't beat us. Don't scream at us. Don't accuse us of anything. Mr and Mrs Black treat us the same as their children. They even didn't want to use my parents keys to the family vault. In fact they looked mortally offended when I suggested it. Mr Black said that the same day he would take a knut from our hand will be the same day when he will cut off his own. Mrs Weasley, please don't make a scene," Charlie said fiercely.

"And you and Ron and Jasmine and Ginny?" Mrs Weasley asked. "They keep you away."

"Because the case of the attack wasn't closed Mrs Weasley. And I was there, remember. I visited you a few days ago and even spent the night," Charlie said quickly. "I cannot speak about Minnie, I'm not her but you should have realised that Minnie doesn't like spending time with Ginny. I couldn't order her to come with me if she didn't want to do it."

Mrs Weasley grimaced but finally she said, "Will you tell Mr and Mrs Black that I want to speak with them tomorrow in the evening?"

"I will," Charlie said. "But if you want to talk with both of them then I suggest an earlier hour or another day because Mrs Black would need to be at the welcoming feast tomorrow evening."

"Indeed," Mrs Weasley nodded. "Just tell them that I would want to have a word with them at the platform tomorrow."

"I can do that," Charlie said. "Goodbye Mrs Weasley. Come bad guy. I will give you some leftover from dinner. You look thin," he added and Regulus felt that he was being dragged inside the house through the front door by the fur on his neck.

The door shut behind Charlie and series of clicks indicated that the locks had activated. As soon as the door was closed Charlie let go of Regulus's fur, who had wasted no time in running upstairs, slipping past his dad's legs and colliding with his mum's.

He stopped shook himself and transformed back into his human form.

"It was incredibly foolish of you to attack those Aurors, no matter how sad excuse of Aurors they were," his mum said with a grimace.

"I know," Regulus mumbled. "Still, it was quite funny though."

His mum sighed heavily and ruffled his hair as she said, "You should be sleeping. You have a big day tomorrow."

She lead him by the hand to his bedroom and tucked him in. He allowed her to do so because he knew that it was the last tuck in for several next months.

Besides male pride was male pride but how many kids had so awesome a mum like his?

He fell asleep shortly after his mum had placed gentle kiss on his forehead.

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**Awaiting criticism - like always. I'm replying as long as you leave me your email or you log in while reviewing. Bring my ego down ;)**

_The chapter of returning dead as I call it because Regulus Black (the older) had almost came back in this one, twice - thankfully I managed to stop him from getting from sneezing bramble (he was the one who was sneezing). Next chapter: boarding the train, last minute talks and hopefully the sorting (have fun at guessing who will go where).  
_


	6. Chapter 6: Hogwarts

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Harry Potter or anything what you can recognize from the books. I do however own the plot of this story but I don't have profits because of it unless you count improving my English as a profit.

Thanks to **omega13a** for beta-reading and helpful suggestions.

**Happy reading.

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**Chapter six: Hogwarts.**

He woke up when the first, faint ray of sunshine fell through his window and tickled his nose. He wrinkled his nose, then sneezed quite loudly and opened one eye.

It was nothing short from miracle. He slept peacefully through the whole night (well, technically whole) without a single nightmare or a weird dream.

He woke up refreshed and eager to start another day.

The small fact that it was 1st September was still in his mind but the Hogwarts Express was departing from platform 9 ¾ at eleven, not eight o'clock and a quick glance at his clock on his nightstand informed him that it was only ten minutes past six o'clock in the morning.

He could try to sleep some more, he really could but…

It was that 'but' which lead him downstairs to mewl for a cup of tea to Finky, who took over cooking duties from Kreacher who was more than happy to clean after her cooking.

Wrapped in his bathrobe and with his feet in slippers he went downstairs, quietly to not wake his still sleeping friends, his mum and dad slept on the floor above them and nothing short of an earthquake could wake them up if they didn't want to wake on their own.

He worked up enough of bravado to not act so quietly when he reached the staircases on first floor. Happily he skipped his way down the stairs to ground level, planning to skip to kitchen stairs but then he encountered a surprising obstacle.

Of course too cheerful to pay too close attention to the stairs (because the times when he or Randa were leaving toys there had passed several years ago after several broken ankles or dislocated fingers) he hadn't spotted the obstacle on his path until it was too late and he fell face down the two last stairs and landed in the hall at ground floor with a heavy thud, followed by startled yelp which for sure wasn't his own.

Immediately he hissed feeling a sharp pain in his left forefinger, knowing from personal experience that if he didn't twist it then he at least dislocated it.

Quickly he decided to pay no attention to his injury, which while painful was nothing he wouldn't be able to stand for another few minutes or so. He turned his attention to the source of startled yelp which came from his obstacle.

His greyish-green eyes had meet a pair of terrified eyes so dark brown that they were nearly black. Then he acknowledged a curtain of curly very dark-brown hair and connected those two facts together. The only person he knew who could have hair and eyes so dark while still brown was Alana Nott, Teddy's younger sister.

He felt something gripping at his throat as he whispered, "Alana?"

"Regulus," the girl whimpered. "Oh, I was so scared."

"Alana?" Regulus repeated. "What you are doing here? Did something happen to your mum?"

"I don't know," the girl mewled. "I fell asleep in my bed and suddenly I woke up downstairs, I was too scared to call out…"

Regulus flinched. He didn't know how long that poor girl was sitting on the stairs too terrified to call for help but surely it had to be long enough.

Calling out for help was out of questions. First if something happened to Mrs Nott then if woken up by Regulus's yell Teddy will have a panic attack… If however…

Quickly he pulled himself into a standing position, avoiding putting his weight on his injured hand and then he helped the girl up.

"I will wake my mum and dad, Alana, but we need to be quiet to not wake the others. It's still very early," he said gently as he wrapped his right arm around her shoulders.

The girl nodded quietly.

Never before the walk to the topmost landing seemed so long as it was today. When they reached the second floor Regulus really had to try very hard to resist the urge to leave Alana with his uncle Remus and sprint to his parents' bedroom on his own.

But finally they reached the topmost landing and Regulus knocked nervously at the door to his parents' bedroom. Then he quickly turned the knob and opened the door wide enough to peek inside.

His mum was already sitting up on the bed, her wand automatically was directed at the candle on her bedside table. His dad was still laying in bed but he was rubbing his eyes with his right hand and patting his bedside table in search for his wand with his other hand.

"Reg… Alana?" his mum mumbled. "What happened?"

Alana without ceremonies made a beeline to his mum and allowed herself to be wrapped in a hug as she retold the story.

His dad listened to it too, though he left comforting Alana to mum while he was quickly putting on his clothes.

Then Regulus spotted THE look, a certain kind of look amongst many looks which had passed between his mum and dad.

Without a backward glance he turned on his heel as his dad started approaching him. They had levelled with one another outside at the landing.

"Don't wake Teddy, yet," his dad said quietly. "I'm going to check on Natasha. It might be a false alarm but it might be worse. Alana had been sitting on the stairs long enough for Natasha to…" his dad hung his voice.

Regulus nodded quickly and then he mumbled, "Err before you go to Mrs Nott, can you take a look at my finger, something cracked when I fell on the floor."

Dad quickly smiled and after quickly cast diagnostic spell on Regulus's injured finger.

"It's only dislocated," his dad said calmly. "Do you want the potion…"

"Light blue, small vials, in the upper cupboard next to the sink," Regulus said dryly. "I will summon one if you will put it in place."

"Reg…" his dad started.

"Dad, it's just dislocated finger, I can take that much of pain for another few minutes," Regulus said calmly.

"Remember, the smallest vial. You don't want to repeat the Farm Incident, do you?" his dad said quickly as he tapped Regulus's dislocated finger and it quickly jumped back into place. "Let your mother have a look at it before breakfast," he added as the bandage appeared and immobilised Regulus's finger.

Regulus felt his ears turning warm in shame. The Farm Incident rarely made an appearance in everyday conversation but when it did …

It was one of those weeks of summer which was devoted to vacationing at grandpa Arcturus' farm in the afternoon, while – after continuous persuasion from his grandpa Archie – his mum and dad had went to cinema in the village, his uncle Remus and grandpa Archie got locked in their own private world of a chess game (from which even Voldemort appearing in front of them in pink tutu with orange polka dots wouldn't be able to tear them away) when Randa had dislocated two fingers in her right hand.

Regulus being Regulus; prone to accidents like scrapped knees, dislocated fingers and one or two broken bones, the later due to his mind-numbing stunts on his broom, had learned very early that the light blue potion in bulgy vials was a Pain Reducing potion and being an older brother had decided to help his little sister and to reduce her pain. So he had given her the vial, the biggest one he had found in the cabinet where grandpa Archie hid his potions.

What he didn't calculate into his brilliant plan was that considering Randa's size as well as the size of the vial the biggest dosage Randa could at that time take was no more than seven table spoons and that was the highest dosage she could take.

Naturally he had given her whole vial and had a panic attack when about two minutes later Randa fell on the floor, unconscious because the dosage she received simply knocked her out for three days – as his uncle Severus, summoned from the middle chess match with his grandpa Albie, had informed the terrified Regulus at great lengths.

Thankfully Randa woke up three days later with no side-effects.

That incident could have banned him from coming within two feet of any potion cabinets until adulthood but he had more understanding parents than that. Naturally he was informed, repeatedly and at great lengths that administering any potion to himself or Randa couldn't take place without any of the adults in the same room with him and only after he consulted his parents about the proper dosage.

But since both Regulus and Randa were prone to accidents consisting from scrapped knees, dislocated bones in their hands and broken legs Pain Reducing Potion got separate rules on its own. The smallest vial couldn't hold more than seven table spoons so scrapped knees got two table spoons, dislocated bones got seven table spoons and with any bigger injuries Regulus was too dizzy to administer potion to himself (or when it was Randa, Regulus simply yelled for help).

Of course after proving to his parents that he was able to administer the proper dosage to himself or his sister Regulus was allowed to take it from the cupboard when the potion was required but at the same time the next shipment of potion was placed in the smallest vials and the cupboard itself was jinxed to not allow him to take out of it more than one vial per day.

When he reached the kitchen, he saw the end of his dad's cloak disappearing in the fire. Regulus approached the cupboard and tapped his right forefinger against it once. The door to it opened and without wasting his time Regulus had taken out the nearest vial with the light blue potion. He gulped down the contents of the vial quickly, then poured pumpkin juice into the vial and gulped it down too.

After he was done with the potion he took a good look at the kitchen. Kreacher, Finky and Toothie were probably still asleep or at least occupied with other duties (secretly Regulus suspected that the elves had devoted their early morning to their own breakfasts and talking over newspapers – especially Kreacher who was very eager to comment on the Daily Prophet's articles, especially social columns. If properly encouraged he could talk about them for hours).

Since the kitchen was elf-free Regulus decided to use it to its full extent, though his plans were slightly thwarted by his left hand but pouring water into a kettle and preparing coffee for his parents wasn't something which he couldn't do one handed, it simply taken him longer than usual when he had free reign of the kitchen in the morning (not that he had it often but he simply liked doing something for his mum and dad once in a while).

Besides there was something in the smell of freshly brewed coffee which smelt alluring to him, something like adulthood and strangely enough his parents.

Relatively quickly he located his mum's evening coffee on the counter and reheated it before he added two teaspoons of sugar.

Once the coffee was reheated he could not help but bring the mug to his nose and smell the aroma. It smelt like his dad's coffee did, of adulthood, sweet and bitter but unlike his dad's coffee it had this hint of a nearly tangible aroma which when he closed his eyes had reminded him of his mum.

Never before he had brought the mug to his lips and took a small sip from the mug. Sweet and bitter but not as strong as he expected it to be. It tasted almost like cocoa which his mum made for him, just slightly bitter. In the Black household instant cocoa was something frowned upon. Cocoa was cocoa, powdery, sticking and sweetened only with one spoon of sugar after it was poured into mugs. His mum's coffee was simply like his mum.

He didn't realise that he closed his eyes until he heard a clink of a mug being placed at the counter. Quickly he opened his eyes and looked in the direction of the noise.

It was his mum, with her hair dishevelled, traces of worry etched on her face but she was smiling softly at him as the teaspoon went flying between coffee and sugar cans. He watched surprised as the kettle with boiling water had filled the mug nearly to the brim, leaving much less room for the milk than the coffee which he held in his right hand had.

"Mum…" he said, suddenly slightly nervous about committing some unforgivable offence.

"Keep it," his mum said gently as she approached him and wrapped her left arm around his shoulder. "It's yours now."

"I didn't mean…" Regulus mumbled.

"So did I," his mum smiled at him gently. "My mother and your grandmother had the same habit of taking her morning coffee from evening remains and adding half of the milk bottle as my father commented on it jokingly day after day. Twenty years ago, on 1st September I woke up earlier than usual and decided to make something for my parents before I departed for Hogwarts. It was then when for the first time I tasted my mother's coffee and just like you I was nervous about being caught in the act. And you know what she said to me?"

"What?" Regulus asked curiously as he looked into her violet eyes, grateful for lack of another talk which will make him ashamed of his actions, something particularly his mum was very good at.

"I expected it, Moonchild, she said. I was bracing myself for it through last several months. Today you will leave our home and when you will return you will be different girl. Our little Mirzam but also different Mirzam. This coffee, which you hold in your hands, Moonchild is the rite of the passage from childhood onto the way to adulthood. It will be long, it will bring you happiness and it will bring you sorrows and there will be many times when you will wish to turn back the time. That's the way it is, some things end and other begin. But never forget that to me and your father you will be our Moonchild and no matter how old you will be you will always remain ours," his mum said softly.

Something akin to bile rose in Regulus's throat. All the deeply hidden fears, hopes, desires finally got their proper names and he blinked hard to hold back his tears as he set his mum's coffee down on the counter.

He understood better than he probably was supposed to why his mum told him what her mother told her. This was a goodbye, his mum's style to this part of his childhood when he was just purely Regulus Black, son of Sirius and Mirzam, and brother of Miranda, adopted nephew of Remus, friend of Hermione and Neville, that part of his life when he was protected all the time by his parents and uncle had finished. Today he will become truly responsible for his actions and their effects. He will have to take care of himself in some way. Of course he will still remain who he was for his nearest and dearest but he will be different boy now, a boy on the way to adulthood.

"I know," his mum said softly and it was then when he realised that he was wrapped in a tight hug. "I cried too, it took my dad and sister by surprise when they came down to the kitchen and saw me and mum bawling our eyes out in a tight hug on the kitchen floor."

It was his mum's words which made him realise that he was crying.

"I will miss you," he mumbled into his mum's embrace. "I know that you will be at Hogwarts and that dad will visit with Randa in tow, and Minnie. But it won't be the same."

"It won't be," mum confirmed gently. "But no matter where you go, we will always be there with you, for you. In your heart, in your memories. That's something no one can take away from you. Besides, I don't want to spoil the surprise but Reggie, you know your father… You know that he will sooner have you home schooled if he had to rely only on an owl and the Floo Network."

Regulus pulled away from his mum, but only slightly so he still remained in the circle of her arms as he whispered in shock, "The mirror? He is giving me the mirror?"

The two-way mirror was something akin to Regulus's wildest dream. Often when his mum or dad had to be away from home for extended periods of time he had talked with them through the two-way mirror which belonged to the other. And even though he had wished for it repeatedly when he was writing 'The List of Dreams', the list of presents which he wanted to receive for his birthday or adoption day or Christmas, his dream had never came true.

"Yes he is," his mum confirmed with a small smile. "Though your father, in one last act of rationality had purchased more than one mirror."

"But they are terribly pricy," Regulus mumbled. "Or that's the reason I heard every time when I pouted for it."

"True, they cost quite a lot," his mum nodded. "But you know your father Reggie. There is no price high enough for him which can be paid to give him the comfort of mind that you, especially you but also Charlie, have a way of contacting us or your sisters. Teddy also will get one otherwise he will spend his time from owl to another owl at worrying about Natasha and Alana."

"Randa and Minnie will also receive one?" Regulus asked curiously.

"They will use Remus's mirror," his mum explained. "At least without them we can control when they are going to sleep…" his mum smiled sheepishly. "But when their time to go to Hogwarts will come they will also receive their own."

Regulus smiled. It was nice that his dad and mum actually made big deal out of giving him a two-way mirror of his own, as if it was some sign for responsibility, kind of like Hermione's older cousin who got a phone of her own after turning fifteen … of course she had lost it the month a bill of astronomical proportions came in the mail… But two-way mirrors weren't phones, there was no bills which needed to be paid for using one.

"He has them with himself so you will receive them once he will come back," his mum said. "Now why don't you…"

THUD!!!

"Mrs Black, Mrs Black, what happened to mum? Is Alana here?" Teddy entered the kitchen at the speed of small tornado.

"We don't know yet, Teddy. Regulus had found her on the stairs half an hour ago," Regulus's mum explained quickly as she wrapped her right arm around Teddy's shoulders. "Sirius went to check upon your mother. He should contact me any moment now. Let Alana sleep some more. She spent better part of the night on the stairs and was terribly scared."

"Do you think…" Teddy started timidly, he seemed paler than Regulus ever saw him.

"I don't know, Teddy, I honestly don't know," mum sighed. "Give Sirius another five minutes and if he won't contact me, I will contact him."

"No news is better than bad news," Teddy mumbled.

"Come Teddy, I will make you strong tea," Regulus's mum said gently.

Almost immediately, nevertheless quietly and instantly Regulus had in his hands his mother's two-way mirror as she lead Teddy to the table and a moment later started preparing tea.

Just as a steaming cup of tea was placed in front of Teddy Regulus heard the voice of his dad coming from the mirror calling for his mum and saw his dad's face. His dad looked relieved, worried but relieved.

"Mum!" Regulus breathed out as he quickly approached her and passed the mirror into her hand as she bent closer to the table to allow Teddy to see Regulus's dad.

"False alarm," his dad said quickly. "She is weak but the potions should start working in a few minutes at their full strength. For now the danger was staved off…" he paused.

"But," Teddy mumbled. "I can hear the but in your voice, Mr Black."

"But last night's attack proved that your mother is in a very bad shape, Teddy," Regulus's dad said quietly. "Sending Alana away robbed her from quite a lot of strength and considering that she had done so before the attack…"

"Will … will mum die?" Teddy whispered.

"Yes," Regulus's dad said slowly, in very quiet, very sombre voice. "Not today, not tomorrow, not next week. But her condition is very serious. We might extend her life by a few weeks, even a month or two but she will have to rest constantly and remain under continuous care, taking a battery of potions. I cannot honestly say how long it is going to take but I was informed at great lengths that if she lives to Christmas it will be a miracle. I'm truly sorry, Teddy."

Teddy his face in his hands. Regulus immediately was at his side and wrapped his arm around his shoulders just like his mum did.

"For now she is sleeping. The attack wore her out terribly and the potions work the best when one is sleeping. I will come back to Grimmauld in a moment, then we will eat breakfast, let you dress up and we will visit your mum, Teddy. She should be awake by then," his dad said softly.

Teddy shook his head slowly. He was shaking like a leaf when Regulus's mum pulled him into a hug.

Regulus had found himself at loss of what to say, how to comfort a distraught boy.

He never saw anyone dying, thankfully fate spared him that event. Of course living in a family where there were many old people the thought that one day one of them will die had entered Regulus's mind. But he was spared watching someone he cared about die.

Of course some members of the Black family had died over the years. Like grandmother Wally and grandma Melania. The first didn't leave any good memories of her and he barely saw her in his life. The other was like a real grandma should be, warm and welcoming and smelling of chocolate. He was very small when she had died, barely four or around it. He remembered very well the last time he saw her, beaming at him after he spelled her name with his toy blocks with letters and then announcing that success to his parents, saying goodbyes amongst kisses and hugs, promising that she will come tomorrow to teach him how to spell his own name with the blocks… She never came. The next morning when his grandma Mel was due to arrive his mum came to him, with her eyes bright from something which he didn't know back then was tears and in a very gentle voice told him that his grandma Mel had left last night for a very long journey from which she won't return.

The next death of which he learned, and months after the fact, had occurred several months later. His aunt Lucy and uncle Igy visited his mum and dad less than his grandpa Archie and grandma Mel did but they always visited them together … until one time when his aunt Lucy came alone and talked for a very long time with his mother. She always came on her own until Regulus asked why she was coming without his uncle Igy… Once again he was told the story of the journey from which his uncle Igy, like his grandma Mel, won't return and he had accepted it.

But the journey from which there was no return wasn't something which he should tell to Teddy. First Teddy was too old for it and secondly too distraught.

Until he remembered what he heard several times after his grandma Mel and uncle Igy left for their journey. 'At least she didn't suffer. At least he didn't suffer'.

"I don't want her to suffer," Teddy hiccuped into Regulus's mum shoulder.

"She won't," Regulus said gently. "She will leave you in peace," he added quietly. "In her sleep after saying her goodbyes to you and Alana. She will have a smile on her face, a beautiful smile which you will remember forever…"

"How do you know?" Teddy mumbled.

"It's what I would want if it was me…" Regulus said quietly.

"It's just hope," Teddy whispered.

"Hope is a beautiful thing, Teddy," Regulus's mum said gently. "Other will leave you while hope will remain and like a captain of a ship she will be the last to leave when there is no strength left in you to hope anymore."

"It's beautiful," Teddy mumbled. "Those words…"

"It was the last words which my mother spoke to me before she died," Regulus's mum whispered. "I was an emotional wreck when I came to her. She greeted me like she always did, made me a cup of tea and talked with me. Never before we talked about so many things, so very sincerely like that evening. I still remember the small wrinkle next to her right eye when she smiled at me for the last time. It was the last time I saw her alive."

"What happened to her?" Teddy mumbled.

"She was murdered, along with my father and younger sister by Death Eaters," Regulus's mum said quietly. "I was twenty years old and I still remember that awful feeling of having all my world collapsing around me. Losing nearly everything I had in a single night just because some crazy fucker had decided that my parents and sister weren't worthy enough to live, that they were nothing but parasites in his perfect world."

"How did you feel?" Teddy whispered.

"Empty," Regulus's mum said quietly. "Shocked. I couldn't believe it. Then I was angry before I realised that there wasn't enough strength left in me to leave my bed and continue doing my job like I always did. It was a long time before I realised that this is how the world works. Some things end and another begins. That people leave and people come. But those who matter to us the most will always remain with us. We cannot see them but they will always be with us, in our hearts, in our memories. I learned to remember only good things and I realised that leading a life unlived would be nothing but an insult to their memory."

"She told me to make friends," Teddy admitted quietly. "To admire the beauty of a shinning sun, of smiles in the faces of my friends. To open myself to other people. To never miss a chance to smile."

"I know your mother, Teddy," Regulus's mum said gently. "She lost her mother very early and her father simply wasn't her mum. She missed her terribly and negated the same words she told you, the same words which her mother told her. Until, it was about a year after her mother died when I found her crying in her bed, she told me that she cried because a girl from another year had smiled in her direction. The same smile her mother used to have. She cried herself to sleep in my embrace and the next morning she dragged me out of the bed before the sunrise and made me watch the sunrise from the top of our tower. More than the sunrise I watched her face, during these few minutes her expression turned from desperate and nervous to a smile which had hardly left her face over the years we spent in the same dorm. When your sisters were born she asked me to come and let me hold little Alana Roberta, your sister which was named after her mother. She had the same mysterious smile, as if she knew a secret which others didn't when she told me Alana's name."

"Does it ever stop hurting?" Teddy whispered. "Did she ever get over it, over losing her mum?"

"You never get over it, Teddy," Regulus's mum said quietly. "You learn to live with it. Getting over it indicates that you want to forget everything. Learning to live with it, leaves only good memories and hope that no matter where you will go… she will always be with you, watching over you from the other side, crying with you, cheering with you. They never truly leave us. We simply don't see them, but we feel their presence, especially in times of great trouble, moments when we need their presence the most. Natasha will be always with you and Alana. From the day of her death till the day of your death, she'll always there. Dormant but ready to help whenever you will need her."

"So what I should do?" Teddy whispered.

"Do what your heart tells you that is right. With your nearest and dearest you may always trust your heart to not fail you" Regulus's mum said softly.

Reglus took it at his turn to leave. Teddy needed comfort more than he did and when Alana would wake up in few minutes she would need hers. He wasn't the best source of comfort but he knew one which like his parents had never failed him.

*

Mrs Nott sudden deterioration in health had simply disorganised the rest of the morning. Of course considering the circumstances it was something which more or less should be expected. Except it wasn't.

Immediately after breakfast and getting dressed, around half past seven o'clock or a bit more closer to eight they had flooed to St Mungo's where Mrs Nott had greeted them. By them of course meant the whole bunch. Regulus's mum, dad, uncle Remus, Regulus himself, Randa, Minnie, Hermione, Charlie, Neville, Dannie and naturally Teddy and Alana.

Mrs Nott was either apologising to Teddy and Alana as well as to Regulus's mum and dad and uncle Remus for causing them such distress or ohing and ahing: over Randa, who grew a lot since Mrs Nott had seen her for the last time (yet again Black genes topped the genes of other families by making Randa the tallest from whole tree girls though the difference in height was smaller than between Regulus and his year-mates); over Hermione, who was immediately deemed as beautiful girl with gentle smile and so very polite; over Dannie for hair of pure-gold and eyes like ambers (which was actually true, simply less poetic); over Charlie for being perfect gentleman, a shy one but gentleman nevertheless; over Minnie's eyes which looked exactly like her mother's eyes and her get-well card; over Neville and his white hyacinth (which meant selfless sympathy – that was something which even Regulus's dad didn't know, while according to Regulus's mum he should considering how many flowers he had sent to her in his life) and generally over everything.

Regulus didn't see Mrs Nott in her worst condition but judging from her delight it was evident that just having someone with her helped her a lot.

Naturally no one hadn't even realised that Hogwarts Express was supposed to depart at eleven o'clock until during lunch break in Mrs Nott private room had walked his aunt Batty and stared at the commotion around Mrs Nott's bed.

"I don't want to sound rude or anything," his aunt Batty said sceptically. "But according to a conversation from yesterday some members of this merry bunch at the moment should be sitting in one of the compartments at Hogwarts' Express for at least an hour and half if not more."

"What you mean, Sheba?" Regulus's mum asked curiously.

"I mean that it's half past twelve o'clock," his aunt Batty said, putting strong emphasis on the time, "and that some of the kids here should be riding Hogwarts Express by now."

"Oh bugger," Regulus's dad mumbled. "We totally…"

"… forgot," Regulus's mum finished in shock.

"Sirius if you are even thinking about Apparting with them over to the Hogwarts Express, which I should remind you, it is moving and would be putting yourself and the kids in danger of splinching then I will…" his uncle Remus said sternly when particularly weird expression had materialized on Regulus's father's face.

"It was just a thought," his dad said sheepishly.

"But how they will get to Hogwarts?" Alana asked nervously.

"Same way as I do," Regulus's mum said simply. "It's unconventional and they will miss the train ride and the attraction afterwards, which is great loss but we can remedy it in June by giving them a go another way but at least they will get there on time."

"Plus we will have many train raids in the future," Charlie added simply. "Though I would need to write a letter to Ron that we had missed the train, so he doesn't worry and I think that someone should go to Mrs Weasley too…" he looked pointedly at Regulus's dad.

Regulus's dad mumbled something which sounded suspiciously like, "She is not my sister let alone keeper. She is…"

"Sirius!" his mum hissed.

"… annoying, territorial, bossy and more judgemental than whole Wizengamont combined," his dad finished grimly.

Regulus and Charlie exchanged 'I told you so' glances.

"She also happens to be the mother of one of Charlie's friends. Somehow I cannot imagine your mother muttering profanities under Dorea Potter's roof," his mum said simply.

"They weren't profanities," his dad huffed. "They were adjectives."

"Leash," his mum hissed.

"Fine, have it your way," his dad shrugged.

Suddenly the door to Mrs Nott's room had opened and together with a nervous healer a Mrs Weasley walked into the room, red-faced and at the age of fuming.

"Oh, Batsie!" Regulus's dad snorted.

"Whatever you are planning, take it outside," Regulus's mum hissed. "That also goes for you Molly," the glare which went in Mrs Weasley's direction seemed to throw her off for a moment.

As soon as the door had closed after Mrs Weasley and Regulus's dad, his mum had placed a silencing charm on the door. Not that it helped because a moment later Mrs Weasley burst into the room quickly pulled Charlie and Minnie into a standing position as she snarled.

"I gave you a chance because I had hoped that you had matured enough to take care of James's and Lily's children the way Charlie painted it. But as you cannot even afford showing up on time at the proper place in the most important day of Charlie's life," Mrs Weasley was practically livid.

"That's not true!" Charlie yelped. "We just…"

But Mrs Weasley continued dragging him and Minnie towards the door.

"Unhand them, Molly!" Regulus's dad hissed angrily. "I give you ten seconds to unhand them and then I'm calling the Aurors and charging you with attempted kidnapping."

"You wouldn't dare!" Mrs Weasley spat.

"Try me!" his dad snarled. "I dare you. Ten… Nine … Eight … Seven … Six … Five … Four … Three … Two…"

Someone yowled like a seriously injured animal and suddenly Minnie was free from Mrs Weasley grasp and safely hidden under Regulus's dad arm. Mrs Weasley let go of Charlie's arm and was gripping her left wrist quite viciously.

"You've bitten me," she mumbled. "You've bitten me."

"I can kick you too, for a good measure," Minnie hissed angrily from her spot. "Get through your thick head once and for all that neither Charlie nor I want to go with you, you… you… you… terrible, close-minded hag who only wants to get her hands on our parents money!" she bellowed.

"As a lawyer I strongly suggest you removing yourself from the room Mrs Weasley," Regulus's aunt Batty said sternly.

"I…" Mrs Weasley mumbled. "I only wanted to take care of you … because those… those people had left your parents when they needed them the most."

"Because they fucking weren't there when Harry needed them the most!" someone screeched and it wasn't neither Regulus's mum or dad.

Regulus quickly looked around the room, though he wasn't the only person who had done it and saw Mrs Nott in a sitting position, breathing heavily, wide-eyed with her face twisted in a cross between pain and anger.

"Your precious Potters had abandoned their dying son! Who died! Died not in his mother's arms, with his father holding on his hand but in the arms of his godfather with a woman who wasn't even his godmother holding on his hand after hours of agony and unlike some they had the decency to mourn his death!" Mrs Nott screamed. "Lily was giving birth to Jasmine but James could have come and stayed with his dying son. But he didn't! He chose a coward's way out and left Harry to die without his family at his side!"

"Nattie…" Regulus's mum whispered as she approached Mrs Nott's bed.

"No, Mimi!" Mrs Nott hissed. "Lily mourned Harry's death, over crying from happiness at Jasmine's birth and she had told me that she felt ashamed that she couldn't be there with him but the fact that in the last hours of his life Harry had his godparents by his side had made her realise that no matter the rift that had sprouted between them after Harry's death Sirius and Mirzam will put aside their differences and will never blame Charlie and Minnie for anything which they weren't responsible for and that they will take them as their own and protect them with their very lives, like they would protect their own children the moment when she and James would be unable to take care of Charlie and Minnie. That's why their last will and testament wasn't changed, that's why Charlie and Minnie ended and will remain under Mirzam's and Sirius's care. That's why I call you all as witnesses that with my death my children will be place under Mirzam's and Sirius's care until they will reach adulthood or for as long as they decide… I state it with my mind clear and my heart freed from selfish desires other than having my son and daughter being placed with people I chose for their guardians… That's my testament… and last will…"

With that words Mrs Nott fell against Regulus's mum side, who had guided Mrs Nott back to her pillows as she beckoned weakly at Teddy and Alana.

Regulus heard weak, "I love you and I only want what is the best of you. I wish that…"

What Mrs Nott wished for, Regulus didn't hear. But he saw the exact moment in which Mrs Nott's hand on which Alana and Teddy were holding had slackened and fell from their hands and it seemed that in the same moment the room had lost its brightness.

"She fainted…" Mrs Weasley whispered.

"She died!" Regulus's mum hissed icily in Mrs Weasley's direction. "She died, you fucking self-centred, annoying, judgemental bitch! I hope that leading pair of children to permanently lose their mother makes you happy because it makes me furious with the person who had lead Nattie to wasting her strength and the little time she had left for getting through their thick head the truth which was always there."

"She died?" Mrs Weasley whispered, blinking owlishly. "But I didn't mean to…"

"You did nevertheless and I hope that you won't be able to sleep at night because of that," Regulus's mum hissed angrily as she let go of Mrs Nott's motionless arm and started approaching Mrs Weasley, extending her own wand as she did so. "I call upon you the power of the Mother Protector, I plead you to send the dangers for my children and fosterlings back to where they belong. Hal'a!"

There was a loud bang and a sudden burst of light. So bright that Regulus had to close his eyes, just as he felt Randa's hand clutching heavily at his arm. When it disappeared Mrs Weasley wasn't in the room any more.

"Err, is she dead?" Charlie asked nervously. "Mrs Weasley... I mean because having aunt Mimi in prison isn't going to help us at all."

"Don't worry, Charlie," Regulus's mother said calmly. "I simply sent her to where she is needed the most at this time, though I hope that as she arrives that she will break few bones."

"What was that?" Alana asked timidly. "It was … wow…"

"The Chant of the Mother Protector, a very ancient Hebrew chant, though over the years it was almost all translated into English, except the 'be gone' element of the chant which still remains Hebrew," Regulus's mum explained simply. "Mostly because it resists translations and using Hal'a is simpler than 'be gone'."

"That was quite powerful," Teddy whispered in awe. "When we can learn that?"

"In Advanced Ancient Runes," Regulus's mum said with a sheepish smile. "Only girls though and it only works when one is a mother. Boys learn the Chant of the Father Avenger… a more gory version of the Mother Protector."

"Painful," Regulus's dad clarified. "The Father Avenger breaks every single bone in the body of the offender, well except the spine, because it is meant to hurt rather than kill."

"It's still awesome," Teddy whispered.

"What now?" Alana whispered.

Suddenly all eyed had turned to Regulus's aunt Batty.

"I will be back in a minute," Regulus's aunt Batty whispered. "I don't carry adoption forms on myself every day," she shook her head in shock. "Oh, and you kid," she pointed at the stupefied Healer, "don't you bloody move until I come back."

The young healer nodded slowly and when the door closed behind Regulus's aunt Batty he let out a breath and fainted like a log.

"Healers these days," Regulus's dad sighed. "Psychical strength of a newborn cat and the weakest from the cast on that."

"Should I remind you what you did after I casted the Mother Protector in your vicinity?" Regulus's mum said simply.

"At least I had the decency to do it outside the room full of children," his dad shrugged. "I will call for another healer and try to revive the limp one. Remus, tea seems to be in order."

*

As soon as Regulus's dad called for another healer and started reviving the unconscious one, his uncle Remus had manoeuvred the kids, other than Teddy and Alana out of the room to the tea room, or that was his initial plan because they had taken the stairs and ended in the Spell-damage ward where Minnie and Charlie begged him to allow them to spend some time with their parents.

Out of respect to their friends, Regulus, Randa, Neville, Hermione and Dannie had stayed in the hall outside Mrs and Mr Potter's room while his uncle Remus had returned to Mrs Nott's room, to sign adoption papers as a witness.

Nevertheless it had been a while before the bunch, now less merrier and far more sombre than kids their age should be had returned to Grimmauld Place. Regulus and the other kids, except of Teddy and Alana had left earlier with his uncle Remus, while the other two had remained with his parents in St Mungo's to arrange the last minute paperwork needed for Mrs Nott's funeral and to say a more private goodbye to her and were supposed to return with Regulus's parents.

The temperature in the kitchen in which Regulus and other kids had gathered under his uncle Remus's watchful eye had taken a sudden drop by several degrees. It had remained that way until his parents arrived with their arms wrapped around Alana's and Teddy's shoulders.

"Remus can you help us pack?" Regulus's mum asked gently. "Randa, Minnie, you too. I will go with Alana to pack her things."

"We are still going to Hogwarts?" Teddy whispered. "I mean, I know that the others should but…"

"We are all going to Hogwarts, Teddy," Regulus's mum said gently. "I wouldn't have it any other way. You will be excused from your classes if you wish but we have to go today."

Arriving at Hogwarts hadn't its former air of having yet another mystery to unfold. It was just that, an arrival, upon which Teddy and Alana went to sleep in his mum's spare bedroom (spare because the only times when she slept at Hogwarts was only when she had a particularly big class of N.E.W.T. level students preparing for exams and consulting her at inhuman hours at night).

With Teddy and Alana sleeping soundly and not knowing in what kind of state they will wake up in, the rest of the kids had opted for a quiet way of spending the remaining time until the feast at playing chess in match of girls versus boys, which boys had lost miserably. Thrice.

In the meantime Regulus's dad, in company of his uncle Remus had a very hushed chat with his grandpa Albie and Regulus could bet that more than once in that conversation was mentioned a sentence, 'They will never find the body'. + I hope they aren't talking about Mrs. Weasley...

While the kids were playing and his dad and uncle plotting, Regulus's mum appointed herself Sisyphean's task of locating and studying the letter from Professor McGonagall concerning how many lessons per week she had with what year and how their curriculum should be adjusted. Somehow it was family tradition that every year his mum only had seen that letter once at the end of the school term and come last week of August she was turning the whole house and her office upside down looking for it and never once had she found it. This year didn't appear to be much different than another in this regard.

Though Regulus was forced to admit that everything which happened today, starting from Mrs Nott's deterioration in health which had lead to her death, missing the Hogwarts Express had made the day to seem like one from a nightmare or at least one of his weird dreams.

When Teddy and Alana woke up they were still slightly dazed but at least calm and not crying, which Regulus had to admit was weird. Crying he could handle, even tantrums but that calm acceptance which Teddy and Alana showed was simply unnerving. Wisely he had chosen to don't mention it.

But there was something which made him realise that some things had really changed. During the very short period which Teddy and Alana had spent around him and the others they were acting like normal siblings. Since they came back from St Mungo's they were inseparable. Alana was clutching on Teddy's arm, Teddy was clutching on hers…

Regulus could understand their desire to be close to one another. He was always very close to his own sister too. Without a grimace he 'chaperoned' her on few occasions at galas and balls (Not that they were many of them. His parents had made sure of that) and he didn't mind dancing with her then and scaring other boys like Draco Malfoy. They didn't have problems with touching one another: starting from prank glomps, through patting or swatting each other's shoulders or upper back, then through having their arms wrapped around another during walks or holding hands or simply touching each other hands during animated conversations or elbowing one another. But for him and Randa it was natural, hence even for Charlie and Minnie it was natural though Merlin forbid if someone caught them holding hands during a walk, but playful touches were something with which Charlie and Minnie were comfortable (as long as the swat of another wasn't painful enough to make the one chase the offender to give back what they got).

But Teddy and Alana were glued to one another. Normally it wouldn't be a problem but considering the coming sorting it was less than desired. Regulus remembered very well how he reacted when someone tried to separate him from holding Randa's arm or having her hold onto his after the attack at Diagon Alley which he witnessed at the age of six. Randa was his sister, he was her protector, end of story and go bother someone else…

One look at Randa's face told him that he wasn't the only one who was recalling that period of his childhood.

"I wish that there was something I could do for her," Randa admitted. "I mean getting used to having a brother away is hard but knowing that you just lost your mum and having your brother taken away from you…"

"Mum will persuade them," Regulus whispered. "It's only for a little while and they will be in the same room. Plus I'm convinced that no matter where he will get sorted, Teddy won't be sleeping tonight in his dormitory."

"Me too," Randa nodded. "What do you think?"

"About Teddy or sorting?" Regulus asked curiously.

"Both," Randa said simply. "The others as well."

"I know him too little to guess Randa," Regulus shrugged. "He isn't a material for Hufflepuff, that's certain. He doesn't want to be in Slytherin because of his father… but seriously I have no idea."

"Doesn't matter, we will know everything in about a half an hour," Randa sighed. "Be a good boy Reggie," she beamed at him, gave him a quick hug and ran away to his mum and dad when they stopped in front of the small attached to entrance hall.

They timed their arrival quite well because that moment Professor McGonagall arrived with the other first years. Regulus groaned inwardly upon spotting a pale platinum blonde head amongst the others. There went his hope that Draco would be sent to Drumstrang.

Almost immediately upon seeing them a red-headed boy sprung from the crowd and ran to them. Regulus immediately recognised him as Charlie's friend, Ron Weasley.

"Where have you been?" Ron gasped. "I couldn't find you anywhere!"

"Later," Charlie hissed as he shook his head. "After the sorting."

"But everything is fine, isn't it?" Ron asked nervously.

Charlie grimaced and looked at Regulus as if he was expecting that Regulus would be able to sum up the day in two sentences. Well… he couldn't.

"Professor Black," Professor McGonagall said briskly. "You mentioned that you will bring with yourself six students to sort."

Regulus's mum nodded quickly.

"I see nine," Professor McGonagall coughed.

"Easily remedied, Professor," his dad said dryly and without any ceremonies he quickly strode to Randa and Minnie who were standing together bowed quickly in front of them and threw both over his shoulders and without backward glance he entered the great hall.

"Some people never change," Professor McGonagall sighed.

"And yet you never believed me when I told you that I'm bringing up two plus one," Regulus's mum smiled simply as she approached Alana and gently extracted her hand from Teddy's grip with few words which didn't reach Regulus's ears.

Regulus saw how Teddy watched them disappear behind the door and was glad that Neville who was standing closer to Teddy than Regulus did had patted his back and said few words to him which seemed to marginally improve Teddy's mood.

They followed Professor McGonagall into a small, empty chamber off the hall. They crowded in, standing rather closer together than they would usually have done, peering about nervously.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," said Professor McGonagall. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house would be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room."

"The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honour. I hope that each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours."

"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest that you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting."

Her eyes lingered on Draco who was standing on Neville's right and his friends who looked like they didn't have time to properly fasten their robes. Regulus shook his head when Charlie nervously tried flattening his hair. With hair like Charlie's or Regulus's one should get over hoping that they will ever get it to be flat sometime around the age of six.

"I shall return while you are ready," said Professor McGonagall. "Please wait quietly."

She left the chamber. Regulus swallowed, he knew that everything was going to be fine no matter the house in which he would end in but he simply wanted to have all of his friends near.

Suddenly about twenty of ghosts had just streamed through the back wall. Pearly-white and slightly transparent, they glided across the room talking to one another and hardly glancing at the first years. They seemed to be arguing. What looked like a fat little monk was saying: "Forgive and forget, "I say, we ought to give him a second chance – "

"My dear Friar, haven't we given Peeves all the chances he deserves? He gives us all a bad name and you know, he's not really a ghost – I say, what you are doing here?"

A ghost wearing a ruff and thighs had suddenly noticed the first years.

Nobody answered.

"New students!" said the Fat Friar, smiling around at them. "About to be Sorted, I suppose?"

A few people nodded mutely.

"Hope to see you in Hufflepuff!" said the Friar. "My old house, you know."

"Move along," said a sharp voice. "The Sorting Cermony's about to start."

Professor McGonagall had returned. One by one, the ghosts float away through the opposite wall.

"Now, form a line," Professor McGonagall told the first years, "and follow me."

Feeling oddly as though his legs had turned to lead, Regulus got into the line right behind Hermione and in front of Neville, and they walked out, back across the hall, and through a pair of double doors into the Great Hall.

It had been a while since he had found himself in such a strange and splendid place where he spent his early childhood. Of course he knew it, and that was something which other students wouldn't be able to say but simply that novelty of passing through the door and entering the Great Hall finally as a student and not just Professor Black's kid was brilliant.

It was lit by thousands and thousands of candles that were floating midair over four long tables, where the rest of the students were sitting. These tables were laid with glittering plates and goblets. At the end of the hall was another long table where the teachers were sitting and a quick glance at it revealed to Regulus that his parents and uncle Moony already had seated themselves at the Head Table. Professor McGonagall lead the first years up there, so that they came to halt in a line facing the other students with their teachers behind them. The hundreds of face staring at them looked like pale lanterns in the flickering candlelight. Dotted here and there among the students, the ghosts shone like misty silver.

It was hard to believe there was a ceiling there at all, and that the Great Hall didn't simply open up to the heavens. Even after years of seeing it the ceiling looked amazing.

Regulus quickly looked down again as Professor McGonagall silently placed a four-legged stool in front of the first years. On the top of the stool she put a pointed wizard's hat, without a mistake, the Sorting Hat. For a few seconds, there was a complete silence. Then the hat twitched. A rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth – and the hat begun to sing:

_Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,  
But don't judge on what you see,  
I'll eat myself if you can find  
A smarter hat than me.  
You can keep your bowlers black,  
Your top hats sleek and tall,  
For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat  
And I can top them all.  
There's nothing hidden in your head  
The Sorting Hat can't see,  
So try me on and I will tell you  
Where you ought to be.  
You might belong in Gryffindor,  
Where dwell the brave at heart,  
Their daring, nerve and chivalry  
Set Gryffindors apart;  
You might belong in Hufflepuff,  
Where they are just and loyal,  
Those patient Hufflepuffs are true  
And unafraid of toil;  
Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,  
If you've a steady mind,  
Where those of wit and learning,  
Will always find their kind;  
Or perhaps in Slytherin  
You'll make your real friends,  
Those cunning folk use any means  
To achieve their ends.  
So put me on! Don't be afraid!  
And don't get in a flap!  
You're in safe hands (though I have none)  
For I'm a Thinking Cap!_

The whole hall burst into applause as the hat finished its song. It bowed to each of four tables and then became quite silent again.

Professor McGonagall now stepped forward holding a long roll of parchment.

"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," she said. "Abbot, Hannah!"

Hannah stumbled out of the line, put on the hat, which fell right down over her eyes, and sat down. A moment pause –

"HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat.

The table on the right cheered and clapped as Hannah went to sit down at the Hufflepuff table. Regulus saw the ghost of the Fat Friar waving merrily at her.

"Black, Regulus!"

Regulus gulped nervously but he bravely stepped through the crowd and approached the stool. The last thing he saw before the hat dropped over his eyes was the hall full of people craning to get a good look at him. Next second he was looking at the black inside of the hat. He waited.

"_Hmm_," said a small voice in his ear. "_Difficult. Very difficult. Plenty of courage, I see. Organised mind and uncommon ambition at this age. There's a talent. A, my goodness, yes – and a thirst to prove yourself, now that's interesting. So where shall I put you_?"

Regulus gripped the edge of the stool and thought feverishly, _Not where my cousin goes. I want to be with my friends and help as many as possible. I don't want to cause my father any distress by going to Slytherin._.

"Are you sure?" said the hat. "Slytherin will help you with greatness but it will not make you the most popular kid around. You can already make some Ravenclaws cry in shame, so I see no point of putting you there. And you are too stubborn for a Hufflepuff. Now… how about… GRYFFINDOR!"

Regulus heard the hat shout the last word to the whole hall. Then he simply pulled it off, place at the stool and giving his dad thumbs up quickly made his way to Gryffindor table by which suddenly appeared grinning Randa.

"Well done," she beamed at him as she sat down next to him surprising several nearby Gryffindors.

"Bones, Susan!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat again, and Susan scuttled off to sit next to Hannah.

"Boot, Terry!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

The table second to the left clapped this time; several Ravenclaws stood up to shake his hand with Terry as he joined them.

"Brocklehurst, Mandy," went to Ravenclaw too, but "Brown, Lavender," became the first Gryffindor girl.

"Bulstrode, Millicent!" was called forward and she made her way to the stool nervously.

The hat barely touched her head before it yelled, "SLYTHERIN!"

Millicent gave the crowd small smile and she went to sit at the farthest table on the right.

"Crabbe, Vincent," went to Slytherin, so did "Davis, Tracey."

"Finch-Fletchley, Justin!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Finnigan, Seamus," seemed to be tad to sort because he spent whole minute on the stool before the hat declared him a Hufflepuff.

"Goldstein, Anthony!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Goyle, Gregory!"

"SLYTHERIN!"

Then, there was another name.

"Granger, Hermione!"

Hermione almost run to the stool and jammed the hat eagerly on her head. For a long moment there was silence before …

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Hermione gave Regulus and Randa a quick, beaming smile before she ran to their table and sat down on the opposite side of the table from them.

"Greengrass, Daphne," became a Slytherin. Dannie had waved to Hermione and Regulus as she went to join her classmates.

"Jones, Megan!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Li, Su!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

When Neville's name was called, Neville staggered nervously to the stool. The hat kept him there for two long minutes before it finally declared him a Gryffindor to his utmost shock, but nevertheless Neville went to Gryffindor table and seated himself opposite of Regulus and Randa and next to Hermione.

"MacDougal, Morag," made Ravenclaw to hers utmost horror and not even called out, "MacMillan, Ernie," made her move from the stool. Ernie rolled his eyes and took the hat from him and put it on his head.

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Malfoy, Draco!" was called next. The hat barely touched his head and it yelled:

"SLYTHERIN!"

Draco went to sit next to his friends.

"Moon, Lillith," made a Slytherin before "Nott, Theodore," shocked everyone by becoming a Gryffindor, so much that "Parkinson, Pansy," had to be called three times before she finally snapped out and approached the hat which sent her to Slytherin.

"Patil, Padma," made a Ravenclaw and her twin sister, "Patil, Parvati," made Gryffindor.

Then there was, "Perks, Sally-Anne," who went to Gryffindor too and finally there was, "Potter, Charlus!"

As Charlie stepped forward, whispers suddenly broke out like little hissing fires all over the hall.

"Potter, did she say?"

"The Charlie Potter?"

Charlie nervously approached the hat and within ten seconds he was sent to Gryffindor with a beaming smile.

"Smith, Zacharias" made Hufflepuff, "Summers, Rachel," went to Hufflepuff too followed by "Thomas, Dean,". "Turpin, Lisa," made Ravenclaw and there was a turn of Ron.

It took a longer moment before "Weasley, Ron," made Gryffindor and then there was Blaise Zabini's turn. Ron got a booming welcome from the Gryffindors, mostly his brothers and his friends as Zabini walked to the stool.

Fifteen seconds later Zabini was seated at Slytherin table. Professor McGonagall rolled up her scroll and took the Sorting Hat away.

Previously busied with watching the remaining part of the Sorting Ceremony Regulus glanced at the Head Table. At the end closest to him sat Hagrid who beamed at Regulus but he quickly turned away to talk with an older wizard with a wooden leg and a scarred face, Professor Kettleburn if Regulus remembered correctly.

Next to him was sitting Regulus's mum, dad and uncle Remus, the latter appeared to be caught in a deep conversation with an old man sitting next to him. A man Regulus couldn't recall seeing upon his last visit.

Another witch with short, spiky grey hair and yellowish, much like a hawk's, eyes was talking with Professor McGonagall. Next to Professor McGonagall, in the centre of the Head Table, in a large golden chair sat grandpa Albie. Next to him, in a normal chair was sitting a Professor Sprout who looked like she was pulled away from gardening to attend the feast. Her other companion was small man with a huge beard. He was sitting on a couple of thick books and was engrossed in a conversation with a witch in nurse robes. Then there were sitting two relatively young women, the one closer to Dumbledore's chair had long light brown hair and blue eyes, the other's hair were black as a raven's wing.

Next to them was sitting Professor Quirrel who was fidgeting. According to Regulus's mum he was the saddest excuse Hogwarts ever got as a Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor and considering that it was coming from his mum the man had to be one. Next to Quirrel, looking like someone just poisoned him, was sitting uncle Severus. Next to him was sitting Mr Filch, as normally at his most repulsing. The witch who happened to be sitting next to him looked like she wanted to trade places with her neighbour, a witch with glasses so big that she reminded Regulus a big fly, Professor Trelawney if Regulus remembered things which his mum said about her colleagues.

Suddenly Professor Dumbledore had gotten to his feet. He was beaming at the students, his arms opened wide, as if nothing could have pleased him more than to see them all there.

"Welcome," he said. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!" he sat back again.

Regulus smiled fondly remembering how he had tried to persuade his grandpa Albie to appoint different elves to be responsible for sending the feast upstairs but his arguments didn't work and Niwit, Bludder, Oddment and Tweak had remained at their posts.

His friends on the other hand didn't appear to be as convinced as he was about his grandpa's Albie announcement.

"Tables," he said with a cheeky smile just as food appeared.

The empty dishes which were standing on the table suddenly were filled with food: roast beef, roast chicken, pork chops and lamb chops, sausages, bacon and steak, boiled potatoes, roast potatoes, fries, Yorkshire pudding, peas, carrots, gravy, ketchup, and, for some strange reason, peppermint humbugs.

"So what delayed you?" Ron asked curiously.

Regulus glanced at Charlie and a moment later at Teddy who stiffened and so did Alana.

"It's not a discussion for a crowded hall, Ron," Charlie grimaced. "I will explain it later, for now all that matters is that we are here."

Ron shrugged but soon enough found another subject for the discussion.

"So how is that a son of known Death Eater got sorted into Gryffindor of all places?" Ron asked curiously. "And why…"

Ron didn't have a chance to finish because two things had happened at once. First Teddy sprung from his place and ran out of the Great Hall with the speed of man chased by a dragon. Then Minnie… well went off.

"You insensitive git with an emotional range of a teaspoon…" Minnie growled. + About time someone said that to Ron other than Hermione!

He didn't hear the end of Minnie's burst because he was already running between the tables after Teddy. In his state Teddy could be unpredictable and would be able to run to unused parts of the castle which would lead to many hours of searching and Teddy didn't know Hogwarts as well as Regulus did. In fact he didn't know Hogwarts at all.

As soon as Regulus was sure that the still surprised by the outburst students didn't have a chance to spot him, he transformed and quickly located Teddy's smell, thankfully it lead upstairs.

But pursuing a scent had one disadvantage over simple following a figure which was moving, even in the distance: stopping on crossroads delayed catching up with running away Teddy.

Thankfully soon he had realised that he wasn't on his own and that by his side were running two other dogs. Sam, in all his merriness, the only bright furred fellow in the bunch. How he had found his way out of Regulus's parents' quarters Regulus had no idea. Then there was his dad; big, strong, a black mass of fur with an air of a leader and far more quicker than Regulus who had to push himself to his limits to match his peace.

Catching up with Teddy wasn't a problem because at some point Teddy grew tired and they had located him in an alcove on the fifth floor. Sam, a typical Golden Retriever, everyone's friend and greatest pal, was the first to reach Teddy and wormed his way into Teddy's lap.

Thankfully Teddy was sitting with his back turned to them and didn't see Regulus and his dad transforming back into their human forms. Regulus of course wanted to run to Teddy and cheer him up but a strong hand which had landed on his shoulder prevented him from doing it.

He looked up at his dad who had shaken his head and pointed at Sam.

"He didn't mean to," Teddy mumbled. "I know that he didn't and that he isn't to be blamed for the way he was raised but it still hurts. You know Sammy, that no matter everything my mum had done over last few years being a Nott still equals being a Death Eater."

"I still can't believe that she is gone, you know. I mean, I was there, I saw it, I saw her the way she used to be before she fell sick but I still can't believe it," Teddy continued.

Then Regulus heard footsteps and pulled his dad behind a suit of armour a few feet away on the opposite side of the wall from Teddy.

"It's a dream, everything was a dream. Her sickness and her death. I will wake up and I will come to her room, see her reading the Daily Prophet and sipping her morning coffee in her bed and everything will be fine," Teddy said to Sam.

"I cannot say, and will not say that she is dead. She is just away. With a cheery smile, and a waving hand she wandered into an unknown land. And left us dreaming how very fair it needs must be, since she lingers there. And you-oh, you, who the wildest year for an old-time step, and the glad return, think of her faring on as dear in the love of There as the love of Here. Think of her still as the same I say, she is not dead, she is just away," said gentle but nevertheless slightly raspy voice.

Teddy immediately turned in his place to look at the intruder and so did Regulus, though less nervously.

It was a man. Tall and lanky, dressed in dark-blue jeans and button up black shirt over which was thrown dark blue robe, on his feet he had a worn pair of sporty trainers. To the contrary of his clothes, which looked more like something which came from Regulus's dad wardrobe the man wasn't young, even though his walking was springy, his movements sure looked like that of a young man.

His hair was dark grey speckled with white strands. So was his beard, a short one like Regulus's dad sometimes wore when he didn't want to shave too often. His nose wasn't either long or short, or too upturned or too straight. It was simply a nose on which had rested a pair of rectangular spectacles framed in delicate golden frames behind which were man's eyes, light blue with a very warm look in them.

"There is no need to run, Theodore," the man said gently. "It's natural that you feel so lost, especially now. Trust me, in your place everybody would."

"You know my name?" Teddy mumbled.

"Professor Black had informed the faculty about your mother's death. She wanted to make sure that you won't be stressed by your teachers during this hard time," the man explained as he approached Teddy and sat down next to him. "She is very concerned about you. She would have come here instead but…"

"Alana," Teddy nodded. "I'm not mad that she didn't come or Mr Black. They are great. They took us in without batting an eyelid and were always very kind to me and Alana. Mrs Black even hexed Mrs Weasley who… I cannot say killed…"

"Did nothing to let your mother have her much needed rest, therefore helped trigger an attack which in the end had killed your mum," the man finished. "Professor Black was quite livid about Mrs Weasley presence in your mum's hospital room. I was told that if she wasn't so kind hearted she would have hexed her to Ecuador."

"I was told that what Mrs Black had done to Mrs Weasley is nothing compared to what Mr Black would have done but it seems that he decided that landing in Azkaban because he killed Mrs Weasley would cause more harm than good," Teddy said nervously. "I wish that my father was like him. My father is nothing but an asshole who had killed my other sister just because she was a girl. Thankfully I don't have to live with him, ever. He will die in Azkaban."

"Fathers are stupid, you know," the man said simply. "Most of them anyway. They think that their part in bringing up the kids ends with conception and bringing money home to provide for them."

"Mr Black isn't that kind of dad," Teddy said pensively. "Before our mum died I knew him for a very short time but no matter how long he had worked or how tired he was he always had time for Regulus and Miranda and still does."

"You were adopted by them, weren't you?" the man asked.

"Yes, because of mum's will," Teddy nodded. "But Mrs and Mr Black are Regulus and Miranda's parents, plus they are already taking care of Charlie and Minnie Potter since their parents were very seriously injured in an attack. I wouldn't want to share my mum with someone who isn't Alana, or wasn't Alma. I like Reggie and Randa but I don't want to…"

"Take their parents away from them?" the man finished. "That you feel like that is understandable. But what do Regulus and Miranda think?"

"Randa is Alana's greatest friend, plus she already adopted Minnie as a sister," Teddy said. "Regulus is more independent but he treats Charlie and Minnie like younger siblings, not very, but before mum died I was supposed to stay the night with the Blacks and I observed that Charlie turns to him like one would turn to an older brother. Reggie is a bit smarter than Charlie, or at least more informed. Minnie simply adores him like a second older brother and he treats her like a second Randa."

"So far so good," the man said. "They got used to having the Potter kids around. They will get used to having you and your sister around. Just give it some time."

"But you don't understand it," Teddy said meekly. "The Potters will stay with them until their own parents recover from the attack and it won't take more than a year or two. Mum won't raise from the grave in a year or two. The Potters will stay for some time and me and Alana will stay… permanently."

"Did you talk with Regulus and Miranda about it?" the man asked.

Teddy shook his head.

"You just assume," the man continued. "Though assuming isn't good word which you can use in relations with other people. You know why?"

"Why?" Teddy asked.

"Because of the form of the word assume," the man said simply. "To assume means making an ass out of you and me."

Teddy snickered.

"You will never know for sure until you talk with your young friends about it, and I strongly suggest a discussion about your doubts not only with Regulus and Miranda but also with young Charlie and Minnie. Their stay might be temporary but in the long run you have to understand that the six of you will be together for at least a year or two. For children that's quite long period of time, was for me when I was your age, anyway," the man said.

"She was so brave," Teddy mumbled. "She defended Mrs and Mr Black to Mrs Weasley, just like Mrs and Mr Black had defended her and us from my father. I'm glad that she managed to repay them for their kindness to us."

"Death sets us free, Theodore," the man said. "People who know that they are dying have very little to lose. And very often when you have nothing to lose you discover in yourself the bravery you didn't think that you ever possessed."

"Mrs Black had said that mum would never leave us," Teddy said. "She said it after we learned that mum was dying and it was only a matter of time… Is it true?"

"That those for whom we care and who care for us in return never leave us?" the man sighed. "It might be or it might be not," he added simply. "Depends from what you believe in. Some believe, some not. I've meet people who believed in both. Some people simply don't need that faith, but some do. And trust me the happier ones in life are those who believe that our dearest are with us, if not always then at the most important moments of our lives."

"I want mum to be proud of me," Teddy admitted. "For finishing at least the small part of the disgrace in which my father had left us. Some people are wary but I won't be Norbert Nott, a Death Eater, who got away only to kill his daughter. I will be a better man than my father. I will become a healer and I will be saving lives instead of taking them."

"A noble ambition," the man smiled gently. "But challenging, very challenging."

"I don't care," Teddy shook his head.

"It requires very dedicated studying in many areas and to that three years worth training under the tutelage of older healers," the man said.

"So does being an Auror," Teddy said dryly. "Somehow I don't see Reggie complaining. Though the funniest part, according to Randa at least, is that Reggie is convinced that his dad doesn't know that he wants to be an Auror and Mr Black is convinced that Regulus doesn't know that he doesn't want Regulus to be an Auror. According to Randa and considering the choice of reading materials Mr Black subconsciously wants to make an Auror out of Reg even if he very loudly complains how hard is to be an Auror."

"Those two are one of fewer examples of a proper father-son relationship, at least I get it from what you are saying. Obviously to Regulus his father is a huge role model and in return he subconsciously he wants to please his father by becoming an Auror," the man said.

"It's like for me, though for Reggie it's in another way. I think that it had started after the attack at Diagon Alley when he was six. He saw his father in action, saving lives and helping other people. And Regulus and Randa are a lot like their parents. They are natural helpers," Teddy said.

"His sister wants to be an Auror too?" the man asked curiously. "Or a Professor like Mrs Black?"

"I'm not sure," Teddy shrugged. "Randa is natural potion maker and I cannot imagine her without a first class potions mastery. However where it would take her I have no idea. Minnie is similar to Randa in that regard though compared to Randa, she just started learning potions. Alana is more like scholar material, especially in everything concerning history. Charlie is simply carte blanche. He doesn't know what he wants to do in the future but at this point of time he doesn't need to worry about it for some time."

"Too right," the man chuckled. "And it would seem that from the six of you he will be the only one who would appreciate the beauty of the sun outside."

"I rather doubt it," Teddy said simply. "The trick is in balance. To have time for both and in appropriate positions. By the way who are you, sir?"

"Cirius Brainslook," the man answered simply.

"Like a cloud or a star?" Teddy asked curiously.

"Actually both," the man chuckled. "My mother had unhealthy obsession with the sky and everything which happens to be on it and couldn't decide between Cirrus and Sirius so she decided to settle on both. My name is spelled like Sirius but written with C instead of S."

"Very original," Teddy admitted. "And what do you teach, sir?"

"History of Magic, the most underappreciated subject since Merlin only knows when," Brainslook said. "Which is a bit of shame but I cannot blame previous generations of finding Professor Binns lacking… the nerve."

"From what I heard Professor Binns not only lacked the nerve," Teddy deadpanned. "Several other things as well."

Brainslook snickered just in the moment when Regulus felt a pat on his back and looked up at his dad.

"Auror, huh?" his dad mouthed.

"Your fault," Regulus mouthed back.

* * *

**Awaiting criticism - like always. I'm replying as long as you leave me your email or you log in while reviewing. Bring my ego down ;)**

_Before I will be crucified for this chapter and I have sinking feeling that I will be crucified for it let me tell you several things. First of Mrs Weasley, who isn't evil murderess, she only has the worst timing in the world you can imagine, driven by her mad desire to protect Charlie and Minnie from the Blacks, who in her opinion are unfit as guardians. I don't want her to be an ideal mother character (for the record all mothers and fathers in this story are far from ideals - though their kids would vehemently disagree with me). Also in reference to last chapter, she isn't directly responsible for Charlie's let's say fear of werewolves and scepticism towards people different from what wizarding world regards as normal people - at the same time I cannot imagine that while Molly is spending all day long at the Burrow working and taking care of her children she isn't visited every now and then by some acquaintances of hers and as you know kids have excellent hearing._

_Secondly, the sorting. Before I will be asked why Seamus and Dean aren't in Gryffindor I will answer, they aren't because I didn't want to make Gryffindor dormitory too crowded than it already would be for a month or so. Additionally their presence doesn't bring nothing, absolutely nothing new into the story. Plus I want the boys to follow certain tradition (one which you might suspect - or not)._

_Thirdly, Regulus animagi form - I don't give a detailed description because it's hardly needed, considering the events of last and current chapter. He is daddy's boy though he has also a lot in common with his mum. As for Randa, she is a canine, and that's all you will get on this subject until I will give description of her in a chapter._

_Next chapter: Hogwarts Academics and a certain bunch who have a lot to say on certain subjects.  
_


	7. Chapter 7: Academics

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Harry Potter or anything what you can recognize from the books. I do however own the plot of this story but I don't have profits because of it unless you count improving my English as a profit.

Thanks to **omega13a** for beta-reading and helpful suggestions.

**Happy reading.**

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**Chapter seven: Academics.**

Waiting for Teddy seemed pointless because the old man first talked with him about everything and anything and then lead him up to the seventh floor (with Regulus and his dad as their shadows, followed by Sam) where they caught up with the rest of the Gryffindors, mostly first and second years.

Regulus was surprised to find Randa, Minnie and Alana amongst them, all three equipped with sleeping bags, standing next to Hermione and Neville.

Percy, the prefect, proud like a peacock because of his badge (Regulus had a natural radar for spotting brownnosers in a crowd of people) had told them the password (Caput Draconis – though Regulus decided that Caput Draco was a better password but that was his personal opinion).

If presence of his sister and the sisters of Charlie and Teddy at the entrance to the tower had surprised him then the fact that instead of going after a yawning Hermione to the girls dormitory the three had simply followed Regulus, Charlie, Teddy, Neville and Ron to their dormitory had bemused him.

"This is the boys' dormitory," Ron stated with a yawn.

"Your point being?" Randa shrugged as she jumped on Regulus's bed. "We have Professor McGonagall's permission to spend the night in the same rooms as our brothers, together with mum's, dad's and grandpa Albie's permission . Try to defeat it."

"What's next?" Ron rolled his eyes. "Attending classes with us?"

"As a matter of fact yes," Minnie said simply as she fell at Regulus's bed next to Randa. "We can attend your classes as long as the Professors will allow us but we don't have to hand in homework or get graded."

Ron scowled and if he didn't grow up the way he did, Regulus in his place would scowl too. He knew very well that he and Randa were well matched in theory but while he could put some fifth years into shame, with exception of potions where he was only supposed to start working on fourth level material and defence against the dark arts where theory was concerned he was able to put seventh years into shame, though as far as spell casting was concerned he was a solid fifth year, but he was himself and not Ron.

But at least his studies allowed him to help his friends, and others who weren't that lucky to have very open-minded and educated parents, like his were.

"There will be history lessons tomorrow," Teddy announced.

"How do you know that?" Ron asked curiously. "You saw Binns?"

"Don't you know that your brothers had exorcised Binns out of existence at the end of last school year?" Randa said pointedly. "There is a new teacher. Supposedly less boring than Binns, but I will withhold my judgement until after the lesson."

"What's his name?" Regulus asked curiously.

"Professor Brainslook," Randa said dryly. "Appropriate name for a professor, don't you think?"

"An old man with glasses who looks like he had lost himself in dad's wardrobe?" Regulus asked.

"The one and only," Randa confirmed.

"He reminds me of your dad in some way," Teddy said suddenly. "I can't put my finger on it but there is something in him which I saw in your dad."

Regulus said nothing. It was better to leave Teddy unaware of him and his dad following him, considering the acrobatics they had to perform to follow Teddy and the man without being seen or heard themselves. What was most important was that the talk with the man had helped Teddy and this was it.

"And where oh, the smart ones are going to sleep?" Ron asked curiously as he sat on the bed which was next to his trunk.

"Is the answer 'your bed' appropriate?" Minnie asked innocently.

*

Despite Minnie's joke somehow they had managed to squeeze themselves enough to allow Randa, Minnie and Alana to sleep without being in danger of having someone stepping on them during the night.

Regulus and Charlie were the ones who slept the closest to the door, Regulus on the right side of the door and Charlie on the left side. Next to them were Teddy on Regulus's side and Ron on Charlie's side. Neville simply slept in the middle bed. Ron's was the closest to the bathroom.

For the night they simply lessened the distance between their beds to allow Randa, Minnie and Alana to sleep in two sewn together sleeping bags to sleep on the available place on the floor by the door next to Regulus's bed.

As the one who was the closest to the girls he could silence the chattering trio by slamming his pillow on the floor. It was simply guaranteed that he would hit at least one if not two at the same time, though he had to repeat the process several times before the chatter had died and instead only soft snoring was heard. Soon the snoring was joined by purring of three cats which happily settled themselves on Regulus's, and Charlie's bed and on the sleeping bag.

"I wish that we could have more moments like that, Reggie," Randa said sleepily, making him realise that he had missed hearing a certain kind of levelled breathing.

"We will have them, Randa," Regulus answered in equally sleepy voice. "Just less often."

"It would be great if we were twins, wouldn't it?" Randa asked quietly.

"Yeah," Regulus admitted. "Boys or girls?"

But no answer came to that and he heard soft levelled breathing coming from the floor. Within the next minute or two he was sleeping too.

*

"There, look."

"Where?"

"Next to the tall kid with red hair."

"Wearing the glasses?"

"Did you see his face?"

Whispers followed them from the moment they left boys dormitory the next day. People lining up outside the classrooms stood on tiptoe to get a good look at Charlie, or doubled back to pass him in the corridors again, staring.

It was then when Charlie mentioned to them that having almost anyone else, except his, Regulus's and Teddy's sisters towering over him for once was a good thing. Not that it had stopped onlookers.

Finally by the third floor Regulus's patience with having other students bumping into him and his friends had worn thin and he burst out:

"This is not a museum and Charlie isn't a bloody exhibit! If one of you bump into us again then I swear to Merlin they will be looking for your limbs all over bloody Russia!"

Miraculously being the son of Deputy Commissioner Black and Professor Black had paid off and the crowd ceased bumping into them and only kept to staring and whispering to each other from a distance.

"Thanks," Charlie mumbled. "How did you do that?"

"Fear," Regulus shrugged. "Dad is Deputy Commissioner in the Aurors Office, mum is a Professor here and both happen to be in the castle at the moment. Imagine the less likely duo you want to piss off at the moment."

"Worked splendidly," Ron snickered. "But why Russia?"

"I could have said China," Regulus said simply. "I needed a very big country to emphasise my point and Russia was the first which came to my mind."

"Besides his dad taught him how to swear in Russian," Alana snickered. "It would make them think that he was already casting the hexes. Oh, hi Hermione, how was your night?"

They tried to wait for Hermione in the common room but keeping Ron and Teddy, who ate very little yesterday, from food was a bit like trying to tame a dragon with only a broom. All Regulus managed to do was persuade the bunch not to go at top speed to Great Hall but walk at a normal walking pace.

Hermione was fuming, literally and Regulus wisely fell back into the crowd, allowing Randa, Minnie and Alana to lead the way while he was talking with Hermione.

"They are impossible," Hermione huffed.

"Your dorm mates?" Regulus asked curiously.

"The Saint Trio of the Pink Nails," Hermione huffed. "Lavender Brown, Parvati Patil and Sally-Anne Perks. They chattered about pink nails all night long."

"And you don't chatter about pink nails with Randa?" Regulus asked dryly.

"Sometimes," Hermione huffed. "We only comment on it and we don't make the colour of our nails the most important part of our discussions. Besides you heard our conversations about girly things. It ends with I like the colour of your nails, can I borrow your nail polish? For them it's the most important thing in the world. I wish that I was a boy."

"You wouldn't be able to use nail polish then," Regulus snickered.

"Oh, shut it," Hermione rolled her eyes and smacked his arm. "Do I have to remind you of last year's New Year Eve's Party?"

"Better not," Regulus mumbled. "It was awful. I still don't understand how dad managed to persuade uncles Remus and Sev and Mr Longbottom and your dad to follow his plan and I don't want to know."

Well, last year's New Year's Eve party was nothing which one should be proud off. Back then Regulus simply thought that his dad's plan was awesome until he realised the photographs which his mum had made were very serious blackmailing material.

They had eaten their breakfast quite quickly, for sure quicker than The Saint Trio of the Pink Nails, a name which had stuck to Hermione's dorm mates like a permanent sticking charm to a wall, and had joined the Hufflepuffs in their way to the greenhouses.

Nine Puffs at first were wary about following Regulus and his group but after taking a wrong turn twice (which Regulus politely had waited through until they came back) they decided to not waste their time at getting lost for a third time and allowed Regulus to simply lead the way.

Herbology itself was less exciting, at least for Regulus who preferred his plants as potions ingredients (the fact that, like his dad, he was unable to keep even a cactus alive, contrary to Randa, whose flowers outlasted all of Regulus's and his dad's combined, had a lot to do with it). The only exciting part about Herbology for Regulus was a mention of Devil's Snare.

After Herbology there was a free period which they had spent eating a second breakfast and quizzing each other on the first chapter of Standard Book of Spells Grade 1. That meant that the Hufflepuffs were quizzing each other, Ron, Neville, Teddy and Charlie were eagerly listening to them together with Minnie and Alana while Regulus, Hermione and Randa were quizzing one another from Standard Book of Spells grade 3 (because Randa recently started studying this one and both Hermione and Regulus were leaps ahead above their classmates). The Saint Trio kept their conversation in Potions related areas, though only on one of his uncle Severus's least favourite areas of potion making – beautifying potions.

When the time for Charms came all twenty-one of them (eighteen regular students plus Randa, Minnie and Alana) were seated in the Charms classroom.

Hufflepuffs had taken one part of the classroom while Gryffindors and the girls had settled in another area. While the Puffs had split so the girls occupied the first row and boys on the second Gryffindors didn't have that problem though only Teddy had ended up in the first row and two thirds of The Saint Trio (Lavender and Parvati) had ended up in the second row.

Then Professor Flitwick unfortunately had started his lesson with laws and theories concerning spell casting and tried to explain why they will start casting spells by the end of October.

Regulus and Hermione, after exchanging a long look with one another had chosen to keep their opinions about this unfortunate idea to themselves. Randa however didn't have the same qualms.

"Morgan's Law is incredibly important part of spell-casting," Professor Flitwick had started his lecture. "It is essential for you to learn the proper incantations and wand movements before casting your first spell. Another law which concerns you is Trawney's Law more commonly known as the Trace and very well known by your older housemates as the ban on performing magic by underage students during the holidays…"

"Excuse me, Professor," Randa said quickly. "Morgan's Law was only invented so teachers would be able to correct the incantations and wand-movement of the less powerful students. In old times nothing like incantations had existed. Sure there were chants but Morgan's Law of binding magic into incantations and wand movements was only invented in the eleventh century because it was then when many members of old families which crossbreed with closely related relatives started having problems with performing nonverbal and wandless magic which until that point was very commonly used."

"You are quite right Ms…" Professor said pensively as he looked at Randa pointedly.

"Black," Randa said quickly. "Morgan's Law is only binding the minds of wizards and witches because in advanced lessons in Charms, Transfiguration and Defence we are supposed to learn nonverbal spell-casting anyway. As for the Trawney's Law, not even a single person writes that Trawney was an old pure-blood who hated Muggle-borns and had invented the Trace and the law against underage wizards and witches from doing magic outside of school to prevent Muggle-borns from learning magic outside of school."

"Ms Black, you are generalising…" Professor Flitwick had started.

"I'm not," Randa shrugged. "It's true and I will give you a proof Professor," she said quickly and then turned to other students. "How many of you before your eleventh birthday had actually cast spells or charms or had done any other kind of controlled wand magic? Raise your hand."

Out of twenty-one hands only six weren't raised and when Professor Flitwick looked at Hermione, who was seated next to Randa, both with their hands high in the air he had stared at her in shock.

"As you see Professor, those of us which were raised in magical families, well most of us," Randa added after taking a look at Ron, whose hand had remained on the desk, "had done their first spell-casting already. I presume that for all of us who used magic controlled by wands, the casting was performed under our parents' watchful eyes. Of course I'm talking about those parents who see the idiocy in Trawney's Law…"

"Ms Black…" Professor Flitwick had tried to start again.

"Additionally. It's well-known, especially amongst the parents that Trawney's infamous Trace can be removed in several ways. The most common way of removing the Trace is to allow children to do magic with the wands of relatives who already are of age. This way Ministry of Magic cannot monitor the spells cast with that wand. Another way of removing the Trace is allowing an adult to perform first spell with a new wand which came from Ollivander or any other wandmaker. Powerful spells or charms, like the Patronus Charm performed by an adult with their child's new wand cancels the Trace from the wand immediately."

"Besides," Regulus interjected. "Trawney's Law cannot control the magic performed by each individual in magical families when magic is performed by a child in presence of an adult because in that moment detectors of underage magic immediately assume that the magic was cast by the adult and not the child. That's why the people who are hurt by Trawney's Law are Muggle-borns who have no magical members in the family or children who have law-abiding parents."

"And as you see Professor only a few of us have this unnerving disadvantage," Randa finished sweetly. "So can we please move to proper spell-work rather than wasting valuable time at learning irrational laws which are as abided as the Ministry's Legislation meetings?"

"Ms Black, how old are you?" Flitwick asked curiously.

"Nine," Randa said simply.

"How many spells do you know?" Flitwick asked.

"Whole Standard Book of Spells Grades 1 and 2, I recently started studying Grade 3," Randa shrugged. "Reggie is smarter than me in that regard and is somewhere in the middle of Grade 5."

"I recently started Grade 5, I would have been by the middle of it if someone didn't want to learn how to pull a prank on dad by making his mug of coffee run away from him," Regulus said dryly. "It's not my fault that fifth year material is tad too hard for you to perform, Randa."

"It's not!" Randa huffed.

"It is!" Regulus chuckled.

"Not."

"Is."

"Not!"

"Is."

"Not!!!"

"Is," Regulus shrugged. "Shame on you."

"Only because giving mugs and teacups legs is conjuring and I'm not as brilliant at Transfiguration like you or dad," Randa huffed as she turned and slammed her Standard Book of Spells Grade 1 against Regulus's desktop.

Regulus stuck his tongue at her and immediately regretted doing it because Randa quickly and nonverbally used a Levitation Charm on her book which slammed against his head twice and quite hard.

"Ouch!" he yelped. "Stop that!"

"Apologise and I will," Randa huffed.

"Please don't mind them Professor, they get like that at least once a week and today is Monday," Minnie said simply.

"Traitor!" Regulus yelped and hid under his desktop but unfortunately the book had followed him there.

Desperate times needed desperate measure and moment later Randa was hovering with her head upside down due to a nonverbally casted Levicorpus, a neat charm which uncle Severus had taught them several years ago, clearly hoping that they will use it on their dad as a prank. He had to regret it few minutes later after Reggie and Randa had decided to practice the charm on him.

"Ms and Mr Black, do you require your mother's assistance?" Flitwick chuckled. "I'm sure that she would be able to calm you down."

"As likely as snow in the middle of July, Professor," Charlie said dryly. "Mrs Black would only tell them to work out their differences in the hall instead of the classroom."

Flitwick sighed heavily, possibly thinking that he was in for a very long seven years.

The reminder of the lesson nevertheless was quite nice, Flitwick was lecturing them about laws, after saying that if they will allow him to finish it this week next week they would start real spell-casting (much to everyone's excitement).

The next class the Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs they went to the first floor where they had meet the Ravenclaws and Slytherins which were already waiting in front of History of Magic classroom.

Dannie immediately upon seeing them brightened and had dragged a small red-haired girl and a tall brown-haired one with her.

"Hey," she said happily. "Let me introduce Tracey Davis," she motioned at the red-head, "and Lilith Moon," she motioned at brown-haired one. "Tracey, Lilith these are the Blacks; Randa and Reggie," she motioned at Reggie and Randa, "the Potters; Minnie and Charlie, the Notts; Alana and Teddy and their friends; Hermione Granger, Neville Longbottom and Ron Weasley," she said as she started pointing at everyone.

"Why weren't Randa, Minnie and Alana sorted with us?" Tracey asked curiously.

"Because we're nine," Alana said simply. "We still have two years to go, but Mrs Black had talked with the Professors and we can attend classes with the rest of you for as long as we are staying at Hogwarts."

While Randa, Minnie and Alana didn't wear regular Hogwarts uniforms they wore plain black skirts and white buttoned up shirts over which they had black vests. From a distance they simply looked like any other Hogwarts students who just weren't sorted.

"And what is that?" asked very familiar sneering voice. "The Blacks are so poor that both parents have to work to feed six mouths."

Regulus looked at the source of that comment and frowned. The Platinum Git also known as Draco Malfoy, a shame for a cousin.

"Well at least my mother does something productive instead of boring my father to death with chatter about the colour of draperies being so terribly passé," Regulus retorted. "And that's something which cannot be said of your mother, ickle Draggy."

There was a bang and moment later loud thud. When the air had cleared Regulus saw the effect of a repelled Furnuculus, which looked quite hilarious.

"I'll see that you'll be getting your due for that insult." Draco spat.

"The only thing you will be getting is a detention with Mr Filch tonight," said a deep male voice. "I might be old but I'm far from being blind and deaf. You verbally attacked a fellow student and when he had retorted you chose to hex him with Furnuclus which he simply repelled. Five points from Slytherin. Get inside, the rest of you."

"You obviously do not know who I am," Draco muttered so quietly that Regulus barely heard him.

"If I start caring I shall inform you immediately," the man said simply as he waved his wand and Draco was returned to normal, clearly he had quite good hearing. "Inside."

The History of Magic classroom, like the Charms' classroom had the student desks standing in shape of a U in front of the teacher's desk and the blackboard. Regulus, together with his friends had ended at the end which was directly opposite to the teacher's desk. As one of the last to come in he had ended up in the highest, third row next to Randa between Hermione and Neville and Charlie and Ron. Dannie was sitting between her Slytherin friends together with Teddy, next to Alana and Minnie in the second row. The first was left to the Hufflepuffs and The Saint Trio of the Pink Nails. Other Slytherins and Ravenclaws had distributed themselves in the remaining benches.

The Professor had walked to his desk and easily sat down on its top, waiting for the chatter to die and clearing his glasses with the hem of his robe.

Finally the chatter had stopped within a minute and the man's glasses had came back to the top of his nose as he looked around the class.

"Good morning," he said simply. "I'm sure that many of you are wondering what you are doing here and why I seem to be more corporeal than you expected."

A soft snicker travelled around the room.

"Generations upon generations of wizards had grew learning History of Magic from Professor Binns," he said and then paused before he added, "Some even claim that they had seen him alive. Unfortunately, for Professor Binns at least, last June a few students had exorcised him out of existence. His banishment however didn't leave any grieving students behind and trust me neither the School Board of Governors nor the Ministry of Magic had wept for him because continued monitoring over O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s exams proved that Professor Binns' methods were … let's just say, unsuccessful and with each year less and less students had received at least an Exceed Expectations on at least one exam, if not both."

He paused again and then continued, "I'm here to stop that declining tendency and to teach you that history, not only history of magic, doesn't need to be boring. I have my own approach to the subject and my own expectations for my students and for the record I had been teaching for fifteen years. They get what I want them to get and I get what I expect of them.

"What do I expect? First of all impartiality, true history is written by the victors, not the losing side but I was raised in the belief that fools who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Therefore I expect of you to understand that you will have to give me both sides of the story. Because of that your private ideology, unless I ask for it, will remain behind the door of this classroom, and trust me I won't call upon it often.

"The second thing I expect of you is stopping quoting history books to me. I know them. I knew them for a very long time, longer that you've been alive in fact. That leads me to the third thing I expect of you, I expect of you to use your minds: to think creatively, to participate in the discussions, and to argue with me.

"As for what you can expect of me…" the man paused. "First thing is impartiality. Imagine that this class is a court room and you, all of you, are lawyers and I'm the highest judge who after listening to your points, speeches and arguments gives the final verdict upon the subject. Another thing which you can expect of me is points, which I award for your efforts and if one of you has relatives in France your age or slightly older you can ask them who was their favourite Professor in that regard. Either me or Professor LeBlanc who still teaches Charms at Beauxbatons," the man smiled sheepishly.

"Now back to the curriculum," the man sighed. "As I said I have my own approach at the subject which pisses off the highty and mighty like you have no idea but even they have to agree that despite their private feelings in that regard my approach works, and works well.

"I know that the first question I will get now will be about the curriculum. I work on history backwards. I learned that this approach makes students actually remember better what they learn. Therefore you can expect Ancient History around fifth year and that we will start with Modern history and what we will be covering this term happens to be one of my favourite subjects," the man smiled sheepishly.

"In answer to another question which I'm very likely to get my name is Professor Cirius Brainslook and I'm going to teach you to like History of Magic," the man finished and looked around the classroom again. "Any questions?"

Randa's hand immediately shoot into the air, "Cirrus like a cloud or Sirius like the star?"

"Actually both," Professor Brainslook chuckled. "My mother had unhealthy obsession with the sky and everything which happens to be in it and couldn't decide between Cirrus and Sirius so she decided to settle on both. Any other questions?"

"What will we start with?" Regulus asked as he raised his hand.

"Everybody knows the name of the Minister of Magic?" Professor Brainslook asked.

Everybody nodded.

"So let's leave the good Minister to his work and lets start from something more challenging like giving the list of the heads of all the ministry departments," Brainslook settled himself at the desk more comfortably. "This subject actually never fails to have all students participating in the lessons. The Dark Lords. Five points to the first student who will tell me about which one I'm thinking at the moment."

"You-Know-Who," Ernie said quickly.

Brainslook looked expectantly at Ernie as he said, "I'm sorry but I don't know who."

Ernie cringed but said nothing.

"The Dark Lord," Draco hissed.

"True," Brainslook shrugged. "Which one of them and I happen to know names of over a dozen?"

"He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named," Susan whispered.

"If he must not be named how we are supposed to learn about him?" Brainslook asked simply.

Regulus saw it coming, since the moment Brainslook answered that he didn't know who. This question he asked was a test of bravery. One which many would fail.

Quickly he straightened his back, raised his hand in the air and when Brainslook motioned to him he said clearly and firmly, "Lord Voldemort. Commonly known under the aforementioned names."

"Five points to Gryffindor for bravery," Brainslook said quickly and small smile appeared on his face. "Anyone else willing to get for their house free five points?"

Hermione's hand shot into the air as she said, "Lord Voldemort."

"Five points to Gryffindor," Brainslook said with a bigger smile. "Someone else?"

Randa's hand shot into the air and she said, "Lord Voldemort."

"Five points to… What house you are in Missy because I can't see your colours?" Brainslook asked curiously.

"House of Black," Randa answered simply.

"Curious," Brainslook said pensively. "I was aware that Hogwarts had only four houses but it would seem that I was mistaken," he added with a small smile as he hopped from the desk and started approaching their side of the class. "Tell me, my dear, what is the symbol of your house."

"Two dogs supporting the black coat of arms with two white stars and white dagger pointing at the two white lines which meet in the middle of the coat," Randa said simply. "With a motto Toujours Pur under the coat of arms."

"And what's your name, full name?" Brainslook asked curiously.

"Miranda Mirzam Black," Randa shrugged.

"You are over eleven?" Brainslook asked pensively.

"Quite to the contrary, I'm nine but I have permission to attend all lessons courtesy to Professors Dumbledore; McGonagall, Snape, Sprout, Flitwick and Black. The last one happens to be my mother. Said permission also extends to my foster sisters Minnie Potter and Alana Nott," Randa answered simply.

"That's quite an explanation," Brainslook chuckled. "Your mother always allows you to attend the lessons of older students?"

"Only for as long as we would stay at Hogwarts, normally we stay in London but certain circumstances compelled all of us to stay at Hogwarts with our brothers," Randa said.

"Why I'm asking," Brainslook sighed. "I would love to award you for your bravery but Hogwarts has certain policy and no matter how much I want to I cannot rebel against it and award you those points. However I have an idea. Let's say that for as long as you and your foster sisters attend this class with yours brothers the house of Black is the house of equality and all points which you will get will be split equally between remaining four houses. How about that?"

"I like it," Randa said dryly. "But what if you won't be able to split the points equally, sir?"

"Then we would decide whatever or not hold the points to another lesson or award the mismatched point or two or three to the person who will answer the special question at the end of the lesson," Brainslook said. "Speaking of which, will I find another eager to get five points for their house?"

No one answered and Brainslook sighed before he came back to his desk on which he seated himself again.

"So Lord Voldemort," he said slowly. "What you know of him?"

"That he was a Dark Lord," Minnie supplied eagerly.

"Obvious but nevertheless true," Brainslook nodded. "Five points to …"

"House of Black," Minnie waved her hand in the air.

"To the house of Black," Brainslook chuckled. "My, aren't you eager… So what else we know about Lord Voldemort?"

"That he had done terrible things," Hannah whispered.

"Five points to Hufflepuff, another five after elaboration," Brainslook said quickly.

Hannah turned slightly red and hung her head without answering.

"That his true name wasn't Lord Voldemort," Regulus said simply.

"Five points to Gryffindor," Brainslook nodded. "Elaboration in a moment. Something more?"

"There is but since it's connected to former elaboration I don't think that I should mention it until then," Regulus said quickly.

"Something else which one of you knows about Voldemort?" Brainslook asked.

No one dared to speak a word and Brainslook looked expectantly at Regulus.

"Lord Voldemort is nothing but a name which Voldemort had chosen for himself," Regulus said simply. "He gathered around himself sons and daughters, though mostly sons of old families, of mostly pure-blood families with several half-bloods who could offer him something more valuable than their blood: their contacts, their talent, or their devotion."

He paused and when Brainslook still was looking at him expectantly he dared to continue, "Voldemort had played on the most embittered belief, of the supremacy of pure-bloods over half-bloods, Muggle-borns, Muggles, half-breads and everyone who in the eyes of some pure-bloods were worth less than those of pure-bloods. But what many of his followers had simply chose to ignore was that Voldemort himself was a half-blood brought up in Muggle world…"

"That's a lie and calumny!" Draco yelled.

Regulus quickly gave Draco side-way's glance and saw that the boy was placed under silencing charm because was mouthing words but no sound was heard.

"Continue," Brainslook asked quietly as he slowly started to approach Regulus's bench.

"As I said before Lord Voldemort wasn't his name from the start, not the one under which he was born. He was born as Tom Marvolo Riddle in London in the winter of the mid twenties in our century. He grew up in orphanage there, then went to Hogwarts, was sorted into Slytherin, later became a Prefect then Head Boy and then he left and started causing chaos," Regulus finished.

"Ten points to Gryffindor," Brainslook said quietly. "What your classmate had said is true. All of it. Voldemort wasn't Voldemort from the start. He didn't spurt out suddenly like a flower in the spring. Like you he was born, raised until he was ready to and later had attended Hogwarts, finished it and became whom he became. However I feel strong need to emphasise that Slytherin as a house isn't wholly responsible for turning Voldemort into who he was. For today my job is to show Voldemort to you as a whole, not just one part which you know, depending from the family in which you were raised or books which you read."

Brainslook during his walk had approached Regulus's desk and sat at the bench between Regulus and Charlie.

"But before we will get to Voldemort there is a question of his ancestry," Brainslook said slowly. "There is one line of heirs of founders which can be easily traced back from the founder him or herself to the very last heir. Withdrawn and secretive in anything else that line had always boasted about their heritage, heritage connected to Salazar Slytherin himself. Heirs of Slytherin are very easy to trace because of their desire to show the world that they are the heirs of great Salazar himself and unlike the other heirs of the founders they had a way to prove it."

"Parseltongue," Randa said quickly. "The language of the snakes, all heirs of Slytherin were Parselmouths."

"All heirs of Slytherin were Parselmouths, though assuming that all Parselmouths are descents of Salazar Slytherin himself is stretching that belief too far. Over the ages, and around the time when the founders were still alive lived several families who were descended from the Middle East and Asia where Parselmouths often made up the majority of the population," Brainslook continued.

"Like the Szachors?" Randa supplied curiously and spare second later cringed after well placed kick to her left ankle from Regulus.

"Like the Szachors," Brainslook nodded. "The Peverells, the Hespers, the Maamins. I'm naming just few of them from the top of my head."

"They were evil," Ernie whispered.

"No, my dear boy," Brainslook sighed. "Evilness or goodness doesn't come from the abilities we posses but from our choices. Our choices how we use our abilities whenever is for good or evil. People fear unknown things: people, abilities which by their definition aren't natural or common. It's easy to fear what we don't know. Who knows perhaps our fear will be proven true and then we would be able to tell the others, I told you so. That approach is very common."

"But the majority of Dark wizards were Parseltongue," Ernie argued.

"Parselmouth," Brainslook corrected. "Parseltongue is the language of snakes, a Parselmouth is the speaker of that language. Back to Parselmouths, yes, their ability to speak and control the snakes was feared and because of that they were ostracised. But many forget that St Patrick had chased all the snakes out of Ireland. Muggles believe that their God had helped him in that, but seriously how he could send all snakes away from Ireland if he wasn't a Parselmouth? Mary McIntosh, an example which is slightly more closer to our times, she was a sixteenth century witch who had defended her village, Burtont in Scotland, from the army of snakes sent to her village by the Dark Lord Dunbarrow. But we aren't discussing the Parselmouths in general, just one and I got to that point to explain to you Voldemort's ancestry, at least those of which we are sure."

"Voldemort prided himself in being the Heir of Slytherin," Regulus interjected.

"Like other descends of Slytherin before him," Brainslook nodded. "But Voldemort didn't bring that issue up until he was in his prime. But between then and his birth there was a very long path.

"As your classmate had mentioned earlier, Voldemort's true name, the one under which he was born was Tom Marvolo Riddle," Brainslook continued. "Definitely not a known and respected pure-blood name, which he without doubt wanted to have. Let's for the moment concentrate on the last Slytherin descends before Voldemort, his, as weird as it sounds, family."

"He had a family?" Hannah asked nervously.

"Everybody does," Brainslook said simply. "Mother, father, grandparents and other relatives in terms of an ancestral point of view. Before Voldemort the last of Slytherin line were the Gaunts. Anyone heard of them?"

"That all of them were more or less cracked at the head," Teddy supplied. "Real whackos."

"Because of inbreeding," Randa supplied eagerly. "Their ancestry was so noble to them that they didn't want to pollute the noble blood of Salazar Slytherin by marrying too much fresh blood. They were so obsessed with it that even pure-bloods finally decided to turn their backs on them. The rumour has it that Marvolo had sired his two children with his own sister to not pollute their precious heritage."

"Yes," Brainslook nodded. "The rumour certainly has more than a grain of truth in it because Morfina Gaunt certainly was Marvolo's sister and for sure she had given birth to Morfin and Merope Gaunt. As Ms Black mentioned, inbreeding between family members had caught up with the Gaunts finally at the end of the nineteenth century. They were rumoured as violent, very unstable and valued themselves as better than the rest of the world.

"Allow me to take you to the Most Ancient and Noblest House of Gaunt in mid twenties of our century," Brainslook continued, in a tone of a bard. "The once proud and wealthy House of Gaunt had fell out of favour with the all the other old families, the former fortune had disappeared over the ages and all what was left were the signs of their Slytherin heritage. Former allies had found less violent allies of their own and all what was left was a ruin. A ruin in which Morfin and Merope Gaunt had grow up. Morfin like his father had possessed a violent nature and together with him had bullied his sister Merope. Neglected and abused Merope grew up in a house which had known no love, not a shrew of human emotions. She had nothing but fear and her dreams. Can you see it?"

"Close your eyes," Brainslook said. "See a young girl in the kitchen which is far from new, working very hard on her own because there is no house-elf which will help her. Imagine her plain, pale, heavy face surrounded by a curtain of lank and dull hair. Her thin frame and walled-eyes. Feel the defeat and desperation which surrenders her, the intense pain of being ridiculed and abused by those to whom she should matter the most. Can you see her now?"

"Can you imagine what is that she yearns for the most, her heart's deepest desire?" Brainslook asked softly. "What she yearns for?"

"Freedom," Hermione whispered. "Being set free from her father and brother, finding someone who would love her, care for her and value her."

"Yes," Brainslook said gently. "She yearns, she wants and years pass by, one after another and she waits. Then imagine that suddenly her father and brother are taken to Azkaban for attacking first a Muggle, then an Auror who had came to arrest Morfin. Marvolo gets only six months while Morfin gets three years. Can you imagine what she feels?"

"Relief," Teddy whispered. "Freedom."

"Overwhelming relief of finally being able to be just herself, being allowed to do what she wants and how she wants," Brainslook finished. "Now let's take another step. In nearby village there is a boy, the most handsome you can imagine. He has everything: money, looks, respect, a proper house, and a beautiful fiancée. Any girl, especially as caged as Merope would wish to marry him…"

"Well if she was ugly she stood no chance," Draco snorted.

"Yes," Brainslook sighed. "If we would assume that Merope wouldn't do everything and I mean everything to finally get what she wants the most. Love, love of another human being. So what she do? She prepares a very strong love potion, thinking that it will solve the trifling differences in their statuses, and gives it to him."

"Neat," Lavender giggled.

"Not as you want it to be, my dear girl," Brainslook said sourly. "She marries him and soon enough expects a child. But you have to understand the most important aspect of love potions, there isn't a potion which can create love: powerful infatuation, strong obsession, unstoppable lust, yes, but not love. What was between Merope and her husband despite her wishes wasn't real. She had to love him or at least was very strongly obsessed with the idea of becoming his wife and mother of his children otherwise she wouldn't use the means she used. But guilt caught up with her sooner than she expected and hoping that her husband would understand why she did what she did and that he would forgive her she stopped giving him the potion."

"And it ended with a complete disaster," Regulus supplied.

"Yes," Brainslook confirmed. "What awaited her was a disaster. Her noble, rich, respected Muggle husband, Tom Riddle had renounced her as soon as the love potion wore off and run away leaving her with child. In the meantime her father had came back from Azkaban and sent her away for polluting the noble line of Slytherin with such a disgrace."

"Where she had went?" asked Alana timidly.

"To London, but she was so destitute that she had to sell the only heirloom she managed to take from the house before she was thrown out. She sold it for ten galleons to have money for food but even that wasn't enough," Brainslook sighed. "When the time for her child's arrival had came she had found herself in Stockwell's Orphanage in London and upon 31st December 1926 she had given birth to Tom Marvolo Riddle, and died within the hour of giving birth, still hoping that her husband will come to take his son home with him."

"Which he never did," Regulus muttered.

"Which he never did," Brainslook whispered. "What we know for sure of Tom Marvolo Riddle was that he grew up amongst other orphans in the orphanage in which he was born, that he finally had went to Hogwarts at the age of eleven, though nearing twelve, that he was sorted into Slytherin and grew up. What happened after he had left Hogwarts is a story for another time because I have no doubt that in a minute or two the Professors with whom you are supposed to have your next lesson with will come here to complain that I was supposed to have only one lesson with you today," he chuckled at the end.

Most of the class had groaned grimly.

"Let's count up the rest of the points. Twenty points for the house of Black which means five points each to Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Slytherin and Hufflepuff. Five separate points to Hufflepuff which were already awarded and twenty points to Gryffindor, also already awarded," Brainslook had said pensively. "I expect the rest of you to be more active tomorrow at our double lesson, when I hope that we will finish Voldemort. Now you are dismissed."

Half an hour later Regulus wished that Brainslook didn't dismiss them so quickly because he started dying from boredom in Defence Against the Dark Arts first due to the incredibly boring introduction speech of Professor Quirrel, then during a lecture about the dangers of the Dark Arts – which Regulus knew backward and forward by the age of six.

He lasted the lesson with gritted teeth, unlike lucky Randa, who simply stated out loud that Quirrel's lecture was a crap because the introduction chapter in their books said everything which Quirrel was saying, word for bloody word and that she wished that Hogwarts' infamous curse of the Defence Against the Dark Arts low-employment rate would hit quicker than usual because even she was able to teach her brother's classmates better than Quirrel did.

After saying everything Randa wanted to say she left slamming the classroom door loudly.

**S. B.**

"You are kidding me, right?" Mirzam asked sceptically over her cup of tea from her position at her desk.

They were seated in her office, discussing the events of last two days and consequences for certain people.

"No," Sirius smirked. "Honestly. Only old Malcolm was an Auror. Operative word, was…"

"You didn't fire him for that stunt?" Mirzam muttered.

"I didn't have to," Sirius snorted. "Malcolm went on an early retirement in late June, honest and true, I had Shack checking it three times before I finally believed in it. Low-level Auror, field work in the Magical Counties of Devon and Cornwall. Of course he kept the robes and the badge. Other two cretins were his son and grandson, wanna be Aurors which didn't make the cut. Obviously Malcolm's retirement wasn't very celebrated otherwise Molly would know that the idiot had no authority to come to our house in the middle of the night."

"I bet that Molly was delighted upon hearing that you can demand a compensation for trespassing," Mirzam snorted.

"She turned quite pale at that mention," Sirius smirked. "But I said that I won't press charges if she will cease bothering us. Charlie and Minnie have their right to visit the Weasleys even though they hardly did this summer and that the company she keeps around when Charlie and Minnie are at her house should be carefully chosen because while the house is hers, Charlie and Minnie answer to our rules and one of them isn't allowing close-minded folks in their close vicinity. And that of course any straying from that rule would lead to having her children visiting us, instead of allowing Charlie and Minnie to visit."

"Neat," Mirzam smirked. "Mean but neat and I bet that she will try everything to not lose the contact with them."

"So do I," Sirius grimaced. "I wish that she didn't. I mean I can stand her progeny, in small dosage if Ronald and Ginevra are as bad as The Exorcists Twins but the thought of sitting with Molly at Christmas dinner gives me the creeps."

"There is something else, is there?" Mirzam asked pensively. "Even before Nattie you were slightly more distant than usual."

Sirius grimaced. As people who were married for a long time, and knew each other even longer they hardly had any secrets from one another but what bothered him for last few weeks had remained a secret…

"I feel guilty," he sighed.

"Of getting one over Molly?" Mirzam asked sceptically. "If it wasn't for Nattie I would say it's the highest time and unluckily for Molly at the moment I'm not in the most forgiving mood."

"I care for Molly like I would care for last year's snow," Sirius snorted. "It's James and Lily which bother me."

"Meaning?" Mirzam asked gently.

"Meaning that there was a certain incident about a month before the attack…" Sirius started.

"Oh, you mean that one," Mirzam said quickly. "It had nothing to do with the attack. James simply wanted to have someone investigate the investigation of Muggle police, you know, the Dursleys. Shack took care of that. Unfortunate accident, nothing more."

"So it wasn't connected to the attack?" Sirius stared at his wife.

"If you don't believe me, ask Shack," Mirzam shrugged. "There is no need to feel guilty about putting James in his place. It's nothing connected to the attack which happened several weeks later."

"Thank Merlin," Sirius sighed. "I know that it's low…"

"But the guilt was eating you ever since the attack," Mirzam finished. "They aren't evil, Siri, they were simply idiots who made the wrong choices. Just like Molly, if she only kept her mouth shut yesterday…"

"Water under the bridge," Sirius sighed. "Narcissa wrote, she wants to see Alana."

"I hope that you wrote that Alana doesn't want to see her…" Mirzam snorted.

There was a sudden knock at the door followed by, "Mum! I'm coming in."

"Your daughter," Sirius and Mirzam said in unison.

In the meantime Randa strode into the room, slamming the door with a bang.

"What a bloody idiot!" she hissed before she settled herself in Sirius's lap. "Quirrel should have been hexed out of his position within five minutes of getting it. Word for bloody word."

"Randa," Mirzam looked at her pointedly.

"I know but he is boring, dull and has as much life in himself as a corpse," Randa huffed. "He could be more like Professor Brainslook," she added dreamily.

"Randie…" Mirzam sighed. "Professor Brainslook is fifty years your senior, at least fifty years if not more."

"I know," Randa said simply. "But he is still cool and I so want to attend History permanently…"

"It would seem that the new Professor was well received," Sirius chuckled.

"Me and Reggie got twenty points today, each," Randa said happily.

"You weren't sorted Randa," Sirius observed.

"I know," Randa shrugged. "But I answered the question and Professor Brainslook wanted to award the points. So he invented a House of Black which is impartial house and the points from it are split equally between all four houses."

"The House of Black?" Sirius asked curiously.

"Yeah, and then he talked with us about Voldemort," she confirmed. "I know that Volds was evil and everything but he truly had a pitiful childhood."

"We seemed to agree on that, about two years ago," Sirius said simply.

"Professor Brainslook made it sound sadder, like Snorty should be also pitied and not only hated," Randa sighed. "Do you think that he would have turned another way if Merope lived and brought him up instead of dying?"

"Who knows," Sirius sighed.

Then there was another knock and stammered, "Pro-professor Black" was heard.

"Come in," Mirzam called out.

The door had opened and nervous Quirrel walked inside, he looked like he was about to take a step back upon seeing Miranda but suddenly seemed to change his mind.

"Excuse me, Pro-professor but if I'm sup-supposed to work with your children I need to know if all of them are as disrespectful as this one," Quirrel stammered as he pointed at Randa.

"I'm afraid that Regulus and Miranda will be thought work for you," Mirzam sighed. "Not because of character but simple boredom. They are too far ahead of Regulus's classmates to find something new in first year Defence."

"Why?" Quirrel asked.

"Simple curiosity," Mirzam shrugged. "Where theory is concerned Regulus can put most seventh year students into shame, with practical aspects he is doing fine with fifth year material. Miranda is somehow more equal in this one, I fear that up to fifth year, both in practice and theory there is nothing new which can challenge her."

"Oh really?" Quirrel asked softly.

"You can quiz them on that, but yes," Mirzam nodded.

"I would like to check it, if you wouldn't mind, at least the theory," Quirrel said.

"No problem," Mirzam shrugged.

"That seems to be a great idea actually…" Quirrel said to himself as he turned on his heel and left the room.

**R. B.**

It seemed to take ages but finally the Defence lesson had ended and the whole group minus Randa had hurried to the Great Hall for dinner which passed quite nicely. Frankly Regulus was glad it did and after quick talk with his parents during dinner he had learned that Mrs Nott's funeral was scheduled for Saturday noon in London.

Upon returning to the Gryffindor common room he had found himself in the middle of a discussion between Hermione and Ron about the necessity of studying for History of Magic. Ron argued that there was no point in it, Hermione believed otherwise.

Feeling that there will be more moments like that in the future, without any ceremonies he dragged Hermione to the boy's dormitory where they quizzed themselves on history, helping and at the same time confusing poor Neville who watched their discussion like a tennis match.

The rest of the evening was much like the last one. Randa, Minnie and Alana decided to bunk once again in their dormitory and they spent some time at talking about their impressions of the teacher.

It was decided, without any hesitation or protest that Professor Brainslook seemed to be the best of teachers. Privately Regulus thought that one lesson was too little to claim who is good and who is bad but he chose not to comment on it.

Soon enough the merry bunch had went to sleep, one after another and like last time Regulus was the last one to fall asleep.

He didn't sleep very long before his usual nightmares resumed.

* * *

**Awaiting criticism - like always. I'm replying as long as you leave me your email or you log in while reviewing. Bring my ego down ;)**

_I'm sorry that it took me so long to update but I have quite good excuses for it actually. Originally this chapter was a bit longer with a dream sequence but after making about five attempts at chapter eight which directly followed original ending of the chapter I gave up. Unfortunately I abandoned the idea of dream sequence at late evening of 9th April and next day was 10th April - the fact itself should be self explanatory to anyone who watched TV that day and knows in which country I live: for those who actually don't know, I happen to live in Poland and at 10th April President of Poland, along with his wife and accompanying delegation of 94 people to Katyn's memorial had died in plane crash at Smolensk's airport. He wasn't my President, I didn't vote for him but it doesn't change the fact that he was the President of Poland and Presidents aren't dying, especially in such tragic circumstances, everyday, therefore last week, at least the time which I didn't spend at University, I spent more or less glued to TV. That's actually very good excuse for not writing._

_Another reason of not writing was, as I mentioned above, my inability to make first version of chapter seven work with chapter eight, which had ended badly because a lot of things which shouldn't be said there were said and it was far too early for them. I had three approaches at the same conversation and I finally gave up upon realising that each time the conversation is getting more and more ridiculous or worse, turns quite inappropriate direction (one version of chapter eight, I would never untangle myself from that mess if I decided to follow it). Plus I started writing a draw of one of future chapters (very Sirius-ish in that regard) and for it too work the versions of chapter eight which followed dream sequence had to be abandoned._

_On a lighter note, I see that Brainslook certainly picked up your curiosity. Let me tell you that you have all required information about him to work out who he really is and that's the only thing I will say until one of you will solve it, the person who will do it will earn a dedication in next chapter, which shouldn't take very long and I will be surprised if I won't be able to post it around my birthday._

_Next chapter: Potions. Private lesson with Severus. Hopefully Mrs Nott's funeral and its aftermath.  
_


	8. Chapter 8: Hardship and Sorrows

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Harry Potter or anything what you can recognize from the books. I do however own the plot of this story but I don't have profits because of it unless you count improving my English as a profit. _I don't own also the poem which Sirius speaks at the end of the chapter - James Whitcomb Riley does or rather did since the poem is old and the author is dead. Again however I own that wannabe hymn - unless, highly impossible, I remembered it from somewhere and when it came to writing it I was writing from my memory rather than producing that poetic... well try to ignore it if it offends your senses._

Thanks to **omega13a** for beta-reading and helpful suggestions.

To **Allison** - I understand your concern and I also know what means having younger brother at certain age. The issue you mentioned in your review will stop appearing in future chapters, unless the kids will face some incredibly upsetting event in their lives and quite naturally they will turn to group comfort. But it appears in this one, let's call it a parting shot. The answer would be more detailed if I had a way of contacting you.

**Happy reading.**

**Chapter dedicated** to **allidiane23** - for using all possibilities, the right one amongst them; **Ren-okami** - for correct answer which could be expressed in more surer tone but I'm not complaining because it was the right answer and finally to **Stephy-Lou Clark-Weasley** - for correct answer and being sure that it was the right one.

_As for the rest of You, my dear Readers **the contest hadn't ended yet**. Those impatient might sought the answer where I found them, those patient might wait for big reveal which will take place very soon (meaning as soon as I get the chapter which concerns it back) **or simply participate in another contest**: this one is the same as the one with Brainslook, the difference is that this time you will guess why Sirius's co-worker has such a weird name and if it's real or not, if not then who in the name of Merlin he is. You know my methods (if you guessed correctly), you know the prize. So have fun, I know that I will._

P. S. I'm truly sorry that it took so long to update but I was literally swamped with exams and term papers for the better part of last three months and this chapter had to face immediate rewrite as soon as I was able to remember my name because earlier versions of it didn't suit my taste. Next chapter won't take this long to get posted, scouts honour.

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**Chapter eight: Hardship and Sorrows.**

**S. B.**

He rubbed his eyes and sighed tiredly. Either he was getting older and was in need of reading glasses or the letters in Shack's reports had shrunk, which although unusual had remained in the realm of possibilities.

Rufus being Rufus had extended his summer vacation till Monday 9th September but he still had to read last reports, sign them (or not) and he failed to realise that after nearly two months there was a lot to sign.

Mirzam wasn't by his side to help him with going through the paperwork. She still had classes, with fourth and later seventh years. Remus harred out in unknown direction without a single word and though Sirius was slightly annoyed that he was left alone in a battle with bureaucracy a shy smile on his best friend's face kept him from commenting about his own fate. Things and people which made Remus happy were more important than things which could make Sirius happy… like an empty the desk for example…

There were subtle changes in Remus, which had started shortly after James and Lily ended in St Mungo's. Around that time Sirius was too busy and too worried to pay too much attention to Remus but once everything more or less calmed down he started realising the differences.

First off, Remus shaved, something which he rarely done before. The kids liked him scruffy and Sirius and Mirzam didn't comment. Remus himself was unable to shave without giving himself a cut or two so he didn't normally shave opting to simply cut his beard and moustache with scissors once they got too long.

Secondly, Remus actually discovered what resided in his wardrobe, which Mirzam over the years had filled more or less with copies of Sirius's own clothes, though more fitted for much more calmer and professor-like Remus. Sirius didn't spot a mended robe or any other shabby article of clothing on Remus since the middle of August.

Thirdly, Remus started using the money from his account, one which Sirius set up for him, despite Remus continuous protests that he was already giving him a roof over his head and food to eat and that he was helping Sirius and Mirzam to bring up their kids because he was their friend and he loved Reggie and Randa to pieces not because he wanted to get paid for it. Wanted or not. Sirius knew that Remus was using his time which he could spend at work with Sirius's kids and therefore, as first their nanny and then their tutor Sirius made sure that more than enough galleons had filled Remus's vault every month. Not that Remus touched it often, he did so regularly around holidays, birthdays, adoption days, anniversaries but neither happened to take place in August nor were supposed to take place in September and the letter from Gringotts was clear. Remus was taking the money out of his vault and was spending them.

Fourthly, Remus glowed. Well not literally but he was smiling more often, joking more often and coming back later and later.

That left Sirius wondering who she was and how serious she was about Remus. He only hoped that Moony wouldn't get hurt.

Suddenly something fell from the fireplace in clouds of soot. There were only two people whom Sirius knew who could exit fireplaces like that.

He looked up and frowned. If he was sincere with himself he expected Dora to visit him so the presence of Albus Cure Slugtruckar wasn't something he expected on his, still, vacation even if it was supposed to end on Monday. Privately he liked the man. It was impossible not to like him and Sirius always found himself strangely protective of one of his favourite prosecutors.

Al was a tall man, nearly as tall and as thin as Sirius was, though less filled out. He was also a handsome man with his longish sandy brown hair and dark brown eyes, high cheekbones and smile which made half of the women and few of the men in the Auror office melt into puddle of goo. Al also happened to be happily married man with two children on his own and had remained completely ignorant to any moves made on him.

Long time ago when Reggie and Randa were still in nappies or on their best way to get out of them Al used to work under Sirius as a trainer in magical criminal law but after two years, or rather closer to three, Al was promoted to Head Prosecutor which actually made him second or rather third in command right after Rufus and Sirius.

And like Sirius rarely assisted Rufus so did Albus. They were _Saint Trio of __the__ Auror Office_. Sirius's job was to catch criminals, Albus's to accuse them and Rufus made sure that the whole office didn't fall apart while other two were doing their job.

So yes, Albus's presence in the sitting room meant a lot of trouble to Sirius, especially if Albus's nervous expression was any indication.

"I have a favour to ask for," Albus said nervously.

"I'm on vacation," Sirius whined. "Can't it wait till Monday morning?"

"I found myself in deep shit," Albus admitted tiredly. "Do you remember Raskolnikov?"

Sirius frowned. He remembered and he hoped that Albus wasn't heading where Sirius thought he was heading. Raskolnikov wasn't a murderer. It was official version which _Saint Trio of the Auror Office_ had to swallow (when they were still _Saint Duo of the Auror Office plus Young Prosecutor Upstart_) in the form of the Wizengamot's official verdict.

But Rufus, Sirius and Albus knew better. Raskolnikov killed at least three people in cold blood but Sirius and Albus weren't able to prove it. At least it was huge relief for them to see him heading to Azkaban for something as trivial stealing jewellery. After all a bird in hand was worth two in the bush. All that mattered was eight years of peace and Sirius wasn't going to complain because of that. But from what he remembered wasn't Raskolnikov's sentence supposed to end sometime in September.

"I see that you do," Albus said grimly. "And as it is he seems to remember us too, at least me."

Sirius frowned, Albus's tone was calm but at the same time he was able to see that the younger man was extremely nervous.

"My house was burned down," Albus said quietly. "Guess who could get himself involved in that? We were lucky enough that Verma was in the gallery and kids were at school and I had an impromptu meeting with Rufus."

"At least that," Sirius sighed and immediately asked, "You have a place to stay, don't you?"

Albus shook his head grimly as he said, "The Leaky Cauldron is a possibility but I prefer not to have my family in the open with a mad murderer on the lose," he paused and looked at Sirius pleadingly, "Can we stay with your family? We will pay."

Sirius sighed, "I don't think that it's a very good idea Albus. Do you remember Natasha Nott?"

"Norbert's wife?" Albus asked pensively. "What happened to her?"

"Her funeral is tomorrow," Sirius answered quietly. "Quincy's fever."

Albus grimaced at that before he sighed, "Poor thing. What will become of her children?"

"They are going to stay with us, permanently," Sirius said.

"Aren't you already fostering the Potter kids?" Albus asked curiously.

"Ditto," Sirius nodded. "A lot had changed in relatively short time," he added. "That doesn't mean that we won't take you. I'm only asking you to understand that the girls, especially Alana won't be the best of companions for a while."

"Neither will be mine," Albus sighed. "They are going to be horrified. How soon I can drop Verma and the kids there?"

"After lunch," Sirius answered. "The kids will come with me, Mirzam needs to stay longer because she has classes."

"Fine by me," Albus shrugged. "So two o'clock suits you?"

"For someone whose house was burned down you are awfully calm," Sirius snorted.

"It was just a building, Sirius," Albus sighed. "What truly mattered survived."

**R. B.**

Friday finally arrived… or not. Tomorrow was going to be Saturday and Mrs Nott's funeral. Regulus dreaded it and at the same time wanted to have it behind him. For Teddy's and Alana's sakes he chose to not comment that particular desire out loud.

The week flew like mad, so did the lessons. Quite obviously suddenly everyone's favourite subject became History of Magic (and Regulus was including the older students, at least Gryffindors whom he managed to overhear talking in the common room) and the least favourite: Defence Against the Dark Arts.

But knowing what he knew it was about to change. Today was Friday and today was Potions.

Quite frankly it was only one lesson which Regulus both wanted and dreaded to have. He knew that no matter all the schooling he received from Uncle Severus the Potions lessons now will be different.

Judging from the quite nervous expressions on Charlie's and Ron's face, as well as Neville (who unlike Charlie was informed not few days but few months beforehand about certain circumstances which will be surrounding them).

To the contrary Hermione and Randa didn't seem as troubled as Neville, Charlie and Ron and neither was Teddy who was calmly quizzing very agitated Minnie and mysteriously happy Alana.

Letting his curiosity get the better of him he questioned Alana about her mood.

"I'm seeing Professor Brainslook," she said happily. "Instead of having potions," she shot a look at Ron who grimaced slightly.

"Isn't he supposed to have fourth years after breakfast?" Randa asked curiously.

"Ditto," Alana nodded. "But he said that he will allow me to stay in that class so we would be able to talk afterwards."

"Lucky you," Ron muttered. "Fred and George say that Snape is a bloody horror."

"And here I thought that the sorting taught you a lesson about taking everything your twin brothers say with a grain of salt," Regulus shrugged. "Snape isn't bad."

"Says who?" Ron snorted.

"Says me," Regulus answered simply. "All you have to do is not to look like a dunderhead and not let his comments get to you."

"How do you know that?" Ron grimaced.

"Godson," Charlie coughed.

"You are?" Ron looked at Charlie in horror.

"No, Reggie is," Charlie said simply.

"Technically my godfather is Uncle Remus, same for Randa," Regulus said simply.

"Uncle Sev is our self-proclaimed godfather in that regard," Randa added.

"Lucky you. You will slide through that class," Ron snorted.

"You wish," Regulus rolled his eyes. "Wait until the class starts and you'll see how lucky one can get."

After their short conversation and finishing breakfast they hurried to the dungeon, the other Gryffindors wisely following Regulus's lead because they learned that he and Randa were the only people amongst them who never get lost.

They reached the classroom just as the door had opened and his Uncle Severus let them inside in complete silence. The silence had remained when they were seating themselves at the stations.

In the front row was sitting one of Dannie's dorm mates, one who wasn't introduced to Regulus, then Dannie herself, Minnie and Hermione. Regulus sat down in the second row on the left, between Neville and Randa, with Teddy at the same bench. Behind them in similar way were sitting Ron, Charlie, Lilith and Tracey. Pink nailed trio was sitting in the first row on the left, next to quite displeased Zabini. Behind them were sitting Draco and his bunch of followers.

His Uncle Severus finished calling the names and looked up at the class. His eyes like most of the times had resembled two dark tunnels with no warmth, a look which Regulus had learned had a lot to do with constant switching between Occlumency and Legilimency (in a classroom of first years it was rather force of habit rather than actual need for it).

"You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion making," his Uncle Severus began. He spoke in a tone that was barely more than a whisper yet they caught the every word – like Professor McGonagall his Uncle Severus had the gift of keeping a class silent without effort, something which Regulus had greatly valued during his private potions lessons. "As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses … I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death – if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach."

Severus's speech was followed by silence and then …

"Potter!" Severus said suddenly. "What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

Regulus rolled his eyes when Charlie didn't answered and from the corner of his eye he saw Hermione's hand covering Minnie's and Hermione shaking her head. That wasn't the question which Minnie should be answering. It wasn't hers to answer and even Hermione, who saw Reggie's Uncle only on occasion knew that.

"I don't know, sir," Charlie answered nervously.

"Let's try again. Potter, where would you look if I told you to find me be a bezoar?"

"I don't know, sir," Charlie answered again.

"Thought you wouldn't open a book before coming, eh Potter?" Severus sneered. "What is the difference, Potter, between monkshood and wolfsbane?"

"I don't know, sir," Charlie answered.

"Pathetic," Severus sneered. "Black, first question."

"Asphodele and wormwood together with valerian roots and sopophorous beans gives a very powerful sleeping potion known under the name of the Draught of the Living Death, sir," Regulus answered simply.

"Granger, second question," Severus said without turning back.

"A bezoar is a stone which can be found in the stomach of a goat and is the simplest antidote for most poisons, Professor," Hermione answered briskly.

"Black, Miranda, the third question," Severus said as he glanced at Randa.

"There is no difference between monkshood and wolfsbane because they are the same plant which also goes under the name of aconite, sir," Randa answered calmly.

"At least someone had read the book. Well? Why aren't you all copying that down?" Severus commented. "One point from Gryffindor Potter. Though it surprises me that a nine-year-old was able to answer questions meant for first years. Pathetic Potter, truly pathetic."

After they had all the answers written down in their notebooks Severus made them make a Boil-Curing Potion in pairs.

Regulus had worked together with Neville, calmly helping him with adding proper ingredients in right time and had paid very little attention to the others, until he heard something like a snake's fang hitting the floor between his and Charlie's station.

"Professor Snape?" Regulus asked innocently. "Does wasting the ingredients at such petty things as throwing them at one's classmates is considered worth a punishment?"

"That depends from the rarity of the ingredient, Black," his Uncle Severus said pointedly.

"Snake's fangs aren't as common as beetles, sir," Regulus continued.

"Indeed," his Uncle Severus nodded.

"So you wouldn't terribly mind if next time Draco throws snake fangs at us I will throw a beetle into his eye, sir?" Regulus finished innocently.

"In fact I will mind; you Mr Black in detention, while Mr Malfoy will be minded by Professor Black, who, I believe will be able to teach him a lesson about wasting school equipment at such petty things as rivalry," his Uncle Severus said pointedly.

Regulus snickered inwardly at that, the threat will certainly work on Draco because, he hadn't feared any detentions with his Uncle Sev and neither did Randa. In the early days of their potion education their Uncle Sev had showed them that no matter how hard work was cleaning up, having a perfect potion which actually can be used was worth all hard work in the world.

Their Boil-Curing Potion was perfect and Regulus knew that. Such simple things he could do with one hand bound behind his back and eyes closed and Neville seemed relieved because of it. Aside of his and Neville's potion the ones which actually could be considered as usable were Hermione's and Minnie's and Randa's and Teddy's – mostly because Hermione and Randa were at their stations and not elsewhere. Teddy was actually a reasonably talented potionmaker if a bit unsure, that was when Randa's experience worked to their advantage. And Hermione and Minnie… Minnie despite spending a lot of time in potions lab at Grimmauld was far behind Randa and while Minnie had knowledge she lacked Randa's experience. Hermione herself, while not possessing Randa's drive to perfecting the art of potion making, had both knowledge and experience which served her and Minnie well today.

One glance at Charlie and Ron somewhere towards the end of the lesson made Regulus frown deeply when he saw Ron dropping porcupine quills into the cauldron, which was still on fire. It was completely the wrong moment to add the quills and acid green smoke started raising from their cauldron and something started hissing.

"Sir!" Regulus yelped, drawing out his wand at the same time and pointing it at suddenly overflowing liquid. "Evanesco!"

The potion disappeared, but not before drenching Charlie and Ron's worktable and making quite a big hole in it. Immediately Uncle Sev had shooed him, Neville, Randa and Teddy out of their worktable and glared at Charlie and Ron who had stupefied expressions on their faces.

"You vanished our potion," Ron mumbled.

"And he had done right thing, Weasley," his Uncle Severus snarled at Ron. "Unlike some imbeciles Black had read the book and knows what happens when someone adds porcupine quills before taking the cauldron out of the fire. You can thank him for saving you a trip to hospital wing."

"But…" Ron started nervously.

Regulus started shaking his head furiously and Charlie, who saw what he was doing quickly draped his hand around Ron's mouth.

"I hope that you will be enjoying today's detention with me, come to my office right after dinner," Uncle Severus hissed as he turned on his heel and went to his desk.

Regulus saw Charlie throwing a frantic look in his direction and sighed. This wasn't going to end good, he knew it.

And as it was it didn't end well. As soon as the bell had rung Ron dragged Charlie out of the class without a backward glance at Regulus or anyone else.

"Git," Minnie muttered behind Regulus's back. "Insecure but a git nevertheless."

"I'm going to get the silent treatment, won't I?" Regulus sighed as he started clearing out his station.

"Hagrid wrote to Charlie, invited him to visit him in his shack after lunch," Minnie said simply. "They didn't tell you because Ron wanted to do something with Charlie only."

"Why?" Randa asked curiously. "Are we lepers or something that he doesn't want to be seen with?"

"Charlie was his only friend for a very long time, Randa," Minnie explained. "And you have to realise that compared to you and your brother… well Ron has nothing which in his eyes is worthy of not loosing Charlie's friendship. Of course it's incredibly stupid train of thought but that's Ron. He tends to have stupidly stubborn views which are very hard to change and he can get very jealous. Don't feel bothered, at some point he might grow out of it."

"I wasn't planning to," Randa muttered. "So what we are going to do today?"

"I wanted to talk with Professor Brainslook if you wouldn't mind," Teddy said quietly. "More or less in private," he added sheepishly.

"Got it, you and Alana will stay with Professor Brainslook," Randa said quickly. "Neville? Fancy a trip to greenhouse? Professor Sprout mentioned a new shipment of Elvira's Roses which desperately need potting."

"Sure, why not," Neville said eagerly. "Minnie, are you coming with us?"

"Not," Minnie said lightly. "I promised to quiz Dannie on History of Magic. I'll be with them."

The class had cleared out almost immediately after that statement and Regulus was left by his workstation with a very pensive Hermione by his side.

"Why I have a feeling that they are doing it on purpose?" Hermione sighed.

"Because the Blacks' paranoia is finally getting to you?" Regulus suggested. "Come on Hermione, let's grab some early lunch and get some sun."

* * *

In the end he didn't take his walk with Hermione, not for the lack of trying. But his Dad was adamant that they should go to 12 Grimmauld Place today and when he said that he had an expression on his face which meant that it wasn't a point of negotiation.

So Regulus devoted better part of an hour to running all around the castle, sending his friends to his Dad.

The last person whom he approached was Charlie, who was holed together with Ron in their dormitory.

"What do you want?" Ron huffed. "Done enough damage today?"

Regulus sighed and counted to ten, then backwards, and then in Russian, both ways.

"Charlie, Dad says that we are leaving today," he said finally. "Pack lightly, spare underwear, toothbrush and the homework which is due on Monday."

"Where you are going?" Ron asked adamantly. "I want to go too."

"To the funeral?" Regulus asked bluntly. "Of Mrs Nott?"

"Err…" Ron swallowed visibly. "Why is Charlie going with you?"

"Because he lives with us," Regulus answered. "Unless you don't want to go but you have to go down with me nevertheless, Charlie," he turned to the other boy.

"I'm going," Charlie said quickly. "What about my detention with Filch?" he asked nervously.

"Mum will take care of that," Regulus answered. "Better she than Dad. Uncle Sev has a soft spot for her."

"What about my detention?" Ron interjected.

"I'm afraid that it's still in place," Regulus shook his head. "Though if you would talk to my Mum maybe she would be able to persuade Uncle Sev to actually make you prepare the potion under his tutelage rather than making you scrub all the cauldrons in the classroom. Though nothing helps you in Potions better than a good scrubbing of a cauldron."

"How so?" Ron asked sceptically.

"It teaches you to not mess up your potions," Regulus shrugged. "Take it from someone who scrubbed every cauldron in the house after botching up a potion."

"But you are great in Potions," Charlie objected.

"I'm not almighty and I wasn't born with that knowledge, you know," Regulus said simply. "Hours of studying and scrubbing. The more I studied, the less I scrubbed. But I always liked preparing ingredients the best, it was no punishment at all."

Ron grimaced.

"Don't frown, Ron, or it would be permanent," Charlie said simply. "Can we pick your mind apart in that area because something is telling me that I will have to work myself to the point of exhaustion to get a passing grade?" he turned to Regulus.

"Oh, Ron, if you want to really get some help talk with Neville. He might be a bit unsure when potion making is concerned but he is marvellous in Herbology and your knowledge in Herbology is half of the success in potion-making," Regulus added.

* * *

They arrived home a little after half past one o'clock and immediately all the kids spread around the house. Regulus decided to head to his Dad's study to have some peace while studying Herbology, which was one of the areas where he wasn't as good as he was in subjects like Transfiguration, Charms, Defence or Potions.

That was where his Dad found him, curled in his Dad's armchair with a book in his lap.

"Herbology?" his Dad asked curiously.

"I'm not Neville, Dad," Regulus shrugged. "I'm reasonably prepared if the plant is used in Potions but last time I checked Mourning Bluebells aren't used in potions."

"You are better than Charlie," his Dad sighed as he flopped into another armchair. "He is trying to walk a path around the kitchen table while reciting the recipe for the Boil-curing Potion. From his expression I took that the lesson didn't go well."

"He and Ron almost blew up the classroom, Dad," Regulus sighed. "I managed to vanish their potion before it done more damage than burning out a hole in their table."

"Ah, so that's why they had a detention scheduled for today," his Dad hummed.

"First detention," Regulus smirked. "What was yours?"

"Helping Sprout in re-potting Mandrakes, got it on the second day of classes for blowing up a whole bag of dragon dung above her head," his Dad grimaced. "By accident of course but even now she watches me like a harpy when I get too close to it. What about you, Reggie? Did you get any detentions which I haven't been informed of?" his Dad added.

"Not a single one," Regulus shrugged before he added with a smirk, "Yet."

"That _yet_ part worries me," his Dad snorted. "Can you at least make it spectacular? Family tradition requires a big bang to get first punishment. Your Uncle charmed all suits of armour between McGonagall's office and the Great Hall to bark whenever she passed them."

"And your Dad?" Regulus asked curiously. "What did he do?"

"I believe that he charmed Dumbledore's shoes to quack whenever he made a step after particularly disastrous Transfiguration lesson," his Dad chuckled.

"Sounds cool," Regulus grinned. "What about Mum? Or Uncle Remus?"

His Dad grimaced slightly before he said, "They were goody two shoes, Reggie. Moony got his first detention in third year for hexing Charlie's mother, by accident of course because he was aiming for Charlie's father. And since he was aiming for James… well the hex wasn't pretty and Lily had to sport two additional pairs of arms for three days before Poppy was able to cure it."

"And Mum?"

"Was caught with me in our fourth year playing poker."

"Poker?" Regulus frowned. "Not very spectacular."

"It was," his Dad snickered. "We, meaning the boys of course, pissed off some seventh years who at the beginning of the school year promised to give the four of us an old copy of Playwizard."

Regulus first frowned then stared at his father in shock before he mumbled, "You didn't ask Mum to… show you her bits?"

"That's exactly what I did," his Dad blushed furiously. "We were curious kids and since I was the only one with a friend who happened to be a girl…"

"You…" Regulus chocked out. "They weren't watching, were they?"

"Nope," Dad shook his head. "Your mother wouldn't allow it. But at the same time she wouldn't allow me to get a flash for free so we settled on strip poker."

"Oh boy," Regulus groaned. "Who caught you?"

"Aunt Minnie," his Dad coughed. "I was a trouble-maker but never before and never again have I seen her so stunned, pale and motionless but then again I was bollocks naked while your mother managed to keep her panties on. So after a moment of a mutual staring conquest I decided to intervene and called out: Oi, Professor, can you… you know… some people are trying to procreate here."

Regulus howled with laughter, "I bet she loved it."

"She did, she called my father to Hogwarts," his Dad groaned. "Worst punishment ever."

"He didn't hit you, did he?" Regulus frowned.

"Nope," his Dad shook his head. "Whacking and canning was my mother's way of punishing us. Dad never hit us. He was great with guilt tripping, being disappointed, shocked, alarmed. For that stunt I was sat in McGonagall's office and was lectured about the facts of life…"

"That's why you run away the first time Uncle Remus tried to explain bird and bees," Regulus snickered.

"I got inkpots and quills," his Dad groaned. "The worst thing was that I was able to see that the git was having the time of his life while lecturing me about _self-inking quills_. In the end he called for McGonagall to call Flitwick to bring your Mum to him and for about half an hour he was lecturing to us about contraception potions and spells. He finished when we managed to howl out that we were only curious about what the other has under the uniform."

"Shees," Regulus shook his head. "I don't want that to happen to me."

"Bet you are," his Dad muttered. "Because I will do the same."

"Of that I have no doubt," Regulus snickered.

"Once you get curious just ask, Reggie," his Dad sighed. "Acquiring a copy of Playwizard is far more easier than keeping a straight face and listening to Aunt Minnie about her being incredibly disappointed by your immature behaviour."

"I will keep that in mind," Regulus snorted. "To change the topic. What about Mrs Nott funeral, Dad?"

"It will take place tomorrow at noon in Wizarding London Burial Site in Kensington Gardens. It won't be big just the family plus Sheba and Severus, maybe Dromeda, Ted and Dora would make it but I'm not sure," his Dad said and he paused before he added, "And since we are about it I wanted to tell you something, all of you, so if you could be so kind to get down to the kitchen…"

Regulus nodded, dropped his book on the coffee table and skipped happily to the kitchen where, like his Dad said, Charlie was trying to pace a hole in the floor around the table while he was repeating the recipe for Boil-curing Potion.

"It won't work, Charlie," Regulus sighed as he flopped into the nearest chair. "Numbers of ingredients can change you know. The key is not in remembering how many ingredients you need but their proportions to each other. Together with how they are supposed to react with one another."

"You aren't helping, you know," Charlie huffed as he sat down.

"I know," Regulus grinned. "But I know great book for beginners which discusses the issues I mentioned, as well as proper use of knives and why sometimes it's better to crush ingredients rather than cut them or to cut instead of crushing when required."

"Really?" Charlie asked hopefully.

"Really," Regulus nodded.

Soon enough Teddy and the girls came down with Reggie's Dad at their heels. Quickly they scattered around the table and looked curiously at his Dad.

"Great," his Dad sighed. "Listen kids there is something I have to tell you."

"Mum is expecting?" Randa asked hopefully.

"Err, no," his Dad shook his head. "Thought we are expecting… guests I guess," he shrugged. "One of my co-workers is coming here to stay. Not for very long, few days to few weeks tops. His house was burned down and he and his family need a place to stay. Normally it wouldn't be a problem…"

"But?" Regulus supplied.

"From what we suspect his house was burned down by a man we arrested several years ago," Dad explained with a heavy sigh. "He was sent to Azkaban for robbery but my co-worker and I are certain, though we have no solid proof that the man was involved in at least three very brutal murders before he was sent to Azkaban. Considering that he didn't hesitate to come after my co-worker and his family I have no doubt that he will try to get to us too…"

"Oh," Regulus groaned. "Dad, please, not the total lock down."

"There won't be any," his Dad shook his head. "You three," he motioned at Reggie, Charlie and Teddy, "are safe at Hogwarts and I seriously doubt that he would dare to mess with Professor Dumbledore. However," he paused and looked at the girls, "I'm more worried about the three of you. I will arrange with my friend that if there will ever arose a possibility of letting you and his children to stay alone at home without an adult that you should immediately go to Hogwarts to stay with Mirzam or Severus…"

"What about Professor Brainslook?" Alana asked eagerly.

"Or Professor Brainslook if he would agree," his Dad finished. "I know that the house is safe and that the wards are stronger than ever but for my own peace of mind I want you at Hogwarts within three minutes of having the last adult leaving the house if they won't escort you there already and to not return until one of us will come to pick you up."

"There is another rule, isn't it?" Randa asked sceptically.

"Quite," his Dad nodded. "You aren't supposed to leave the house on your own other than to go to the back garden. It would be preferred if you had at least two adults by your side when you leave the house other than going to Hogwarts."

"Got it," Randa nodded.

"I will try to arrange the shifts in the way which would allow me and Albus, my co-worker to stay at Grimmauld while the other is in the Ministry but I might not succeed," his Dad added grimly and then turned to Randa specifically. "Randa, if the possibility will ever arose…"

"I know," Randa nodded. "Keep together, stay safe and if you have to then hex first and ask questions later."

Regulus's Dad nodded slowly before he whispered, "I'm glad that you understood it."

"What about the guests?" Minnie asked curiously. "You mentioned that they have kids."

"Son and daughter, aged seven and nine from what I remember but kill me if I remember the particular order or their names. Anyway you will learn it soon because they are about to arrive," Dad sighed.

* * *

They awaited the arrival of the new guests eagerly, the girls were very curious especially about the girl. Thankfully they didn't need to wait very long because shortly after two o'clock the guests arrived.

From what Regulus managed to get out of his Dad was that his co-worker was the Head Prosecutor in the Auror Office which technically made him the third in command and that the man didn't look like one, in fact he looked like average wizard and not someone who from time to time was able to beat Dad in duelling.

Upon seeing the man Regulus couldn't help but agree with his Dad. The man totally didn't look like a Prosecutor, rather more like a clerk at some boring Ministry department. Sandy brown hair, brown eyes, though quite tall, there was nothing terribly specially or characteristic about the man.

His wife however was a different matter. Her posture and height reminded Regulus of his Mum but that was where the similarities ended. The woman had long, curly blonde hair, bright blue eyes and gentle smile.

The kids looked like carbon copies of their parents, the boy of his father and the girl of her mother, the only difference was in their height.

To Randa's, Minnie's and Alana's delight the older of the pair was a girl, aged nine just like them. The boy was aged seven and immediately took a liking to Teddy, Charlie and Regulus.

What made the two of them unique were their names. Regulus's Dad (and not only him but Regulus and Randa as well) was quiet shocked when he learned that the girl was named Mirzam and the boy was named Sirius. His Dad found it unsettling while Regulus and Randa found it endearing.

The tea passed without disturbances and so did the dinner by which Regulus's Mum and Uncle Remus had returned from their errands.

After dinner, shortly before his supposed bedtime Regulus returned to his Dad's study to pick his Herbology book to read some more before going to sleep. He wasn't surprised by seeing his Mum seated at the desk and even by the presence of a smoking cigarette in her hand didn't surprise him, because she was smoking from time to time nor by the presence of a book in her other hand.

"Hey," he mumbled as he approached her and kissed her cheek. "You stink, Mum," he scrunched his nose like he always did when he caught her smoking.

"Sorry for that, Reggie," his Mum sighed and exhaled a puff of smoke. "I was contemplating."

"What?" Regulus asked curiously.

"Hop on," his Mum patted her knees before she vanished the cigarette with a flick of her wrist, "and take a look."

He did as she told him and he found himself staring at the old photo album which his Mum was holding in her other hand.

The photograph which she was watching was way older than he was that was certain. On the left side, seated on a small bench was a man who looked very much like his Dad with the exception of glasses which the man wore and Regulus's Dad didn't. Next to him was sitting a woman with hair as long and curly as his Mum's though she had more rectangular face than his Mum did. The man next to her, with his arm wrapped around her shoulders had a face more similar to Regulus's Mum, heart-shaped and the same nose. All three adults were dark haired (even if the photograph itself was black and white one Regulus was able to spot it). Seated on the ground, either cross-legged like a girl with long, curly dark hair who clearly had to be Regulus's Mum, or leaning against the bench were two dark-haired boys and small girl, also dark haired.

"It's probably the only photograph in existence on which the Verascezs and the Blacks are together, or almost together. Your grandfather was quite eager to see how my Dad's Muggle camera worked so he participated in the photo session, your grandmother did not."

"So that's Uncle Regulus," Regulus said eagerly as he pointed at the smaller boy who was looking down at the little girl leaning against his Mum's knees.

"And my sister Miranda," Regulus's Mum added softly, as she tapped the photograph where the little girl was sitting. "Regulus and Miranda, Sirius and Mirzam. I don't know if my mind is making up things or is it only a coincidence."

"Hm?" Regulus frowned. "Oh, you mean little Sirius and Mirzam?"

"Wishful thinking," his Mum sighed finally. "Have I ever told you that Mira was a witch? That's how we called her, Mira. She was younger than me, much more younger, six years. I was in seventh year when she went to Hogwarts."

"You were nearing twenty when she died so that means that she was…" Regulus mumbled. "In her third year, am I right?"

"Yes," his Mum whispered. "Thirteen. I wasn't teaching at Hogwarts back then, I was still studying for my First Class Mastery exams in Ancient Runes and Mira couldn't tell apart the runes to save her life. Regulus was eighteen then. It was a shitty year. First Mr Black, then Mum, Dad and Mira and finally Regulus… all were gone in a span of a month.

"So when I heard the name Mirzam and saw that little girl…" his Mum sighed. "She doesn't look like Mira, well maybe except her eyes but blue eyes are quite common. I observed her during the dinner when I wasn't observing Teddy and Alana. She has Mira's mannerism, the girl, not the mother. There is nothing about Verma Slugtruckar which reminds me of Mira but Mirzam… Wishful thinking."

"Do you ever imagined how things would be different if they survived?" Regulus asked quietly. "All of them, well maybe except grandmother Black."

"I'm imaging it nearly every night Reggie…" his Mum sighed. "I'd try to not dwell on dreams but I'm only a human being," she paused and for a very long while remained silent before she said, "So what story you want to hear for the night?"

Most boys would answer with no. Except Regulus wasn't most boys and he knew that no matter how old he was he would never get tired of hearing his Mum reading to him and his sister bedtime stories and feeling the warmth of her embrace. Not even suddenly extended size of his family didn't change that.

That night, huddled under the same blanket with Teddy, who decided to lend his room to little Sirius for the time being (the fact that he didn't like to sleep on his own considering the circumstances was quite obvious and for Teddy's sake wasn't mentioned), Regulus fell into undisturbed sleep.

**S. B.**

"Mirzam and Sirius," he heard a soft mutter through the fog of sleep. "Regulus and Miranda."

"You are still at it Moonchild?" he yawned sleepily.

"And you wouldn't be?" Mirzam huffed. "One name alone would be a coincidence, two sounds bloody suspicious."

"Not swearing when sex isn't involved," he yawned again.

"Oh, bugger off Paddy," Mirzam snorted. "You are an Auror, you are supposed to be the suspicious one not me."

"I'm supposed to be suspicious when I'm at work, my vacation officially didn't end yet so my suspicious nature hangs in my locker room in the Ministry," he retorted sleepily as he blinked to clear his vision. "Besides…" he yawned.

"Besides let's face it my brother is dead, so is your sister and they don't have to be the only people who would name their children Mirzam and Sirius, I know!" Mirzam hissed.

"That's not what I wanted to say," Sirius muttered. "Reg was a Pure-blood, Death Eater, Voldemort's servant. Mira was a Muggleborn. Even if Reg got cold feet about serving Voldesnorts, as our daughter likes to say, that doesn't mean that he would fake his own death, your sister's death, took her off to some hiding place, impregnated her when she was barely fifteen and lead a happy married life with two kids about a decade later. Besides that theory has a quite big hole."

"Meaning?" Mirzam snorted.

"Reg was a Death Eater, he had a mark. Assuming that Albus and Reg are the same person, he would have had a painful death on an official ministry scanning for the Dark Mark which was performed on Albus the same day I had a meeting with him and for the record I was present when the spell was cast. No alarm, no lights. So if Albus is Reg in disguise he would have to not only fake his own death but also cut off his arm, find another and attach it so well that no one sees the difference," Sirius said calmly.

"Albus is left-handed," Mirzam said calmly.

"And?" Sirius rolled his eyes.

"So was Reg," Mirzam said.

"And we are both ambidextrous," Sirius said calmly. "So are our children even if Reggie favours his right hand like me while Randa favours her left like you. The point being is?"

"That you are a prat and you really need to start working again. Rufus was right you are getting dimmer and dimmer with each passing day of the vacation," Mirzam concluded with a snort.

**R. B.**

He woke up feeling as if the Quidditch team (and the national one on that) had decided to land on him during the night and didn't have the energy to leave right after landing.

He opened his eyes and frowned. At least he knew why he felt like crap.

On his left arm he spotted a mass of black hair, curly like a poodle which meant Randa, a bit lower, with her head on his stomach was snoring Minnie, he recognised her by her wavy hair. On his right arm, between Teddy and him was snoring Alana. On his knees, curled into a ball was sleeping Charlie, on whose knees with his arms wrapped around Regulus's legs was sleeping little Sirius. Aside of Teddy from the whole bunch only Mirzam was sensible enough to not use Regulus as a pillow but even she was curled into a ball with her left arm wrapped around Regulus's feet.

'What's the point of allowing us to have separate bedrooms when three times out of five we always end up sleeping in the same bed,' he snorted inwardly. 'And how I'm supposed to get up without waking this herd of hippogriffs?'

It took a lot of wiggling but in the end he managed to untangle himself from the tangle of human devil snare and jumped out from the bed after transforming midair and with a grim satisfaction observed how the bunch had huddled together wrapping arms around another. Thank goodness that at Hogwarts beds were separate and from Monday on the girls will be staying at Grimmauld for the night.

Not too eager to get tangled into the bunch of devil snare again after visiting the loo he wandered to his parents' bedroom and found them in the middle of a conversation.

"Sleep," he mumbled as he flopped in the middle of their bed. "Or bigger bed."

"You had a nightmare again?" his Dad asked in concern.

"Not," Regulus yawned. "I slept well tonight but I woke up entangled in human version of the devil snare Dad. I mean come on, Randa I can understand, even Charlie, Minnie, Teddy and Alana, nightmares and such. But they not only slept in my bed tonight while using me as a pillow but they also brought the Slugtruckars."

"Pack instinct," his Mum said simply.

"I don't look like an alpha Mum," Regulus groaned. "Besides aren't Teddy and Charlie older than me?" he added as he looked up at her.

"It has nothing to do with age, Reggie," his Dad shook his head. "However it has a lot to do with the air around you. It was easier to tell it when there was just the four of you, and by four I mean you, Randa, Neville and Hermione. With them it's clear that you are in lead. Every time when the four of you were caught in the act at doing something you shouldn't immediately they look to you first before the four of you launch in defence of your actions, in unison I should add."

"But I'm not a leader," Regulus whined. "We are equals."

"Even amongst the equals someone has to lead the others," his Mum said with a gentle smile. "You acquired that alpha plaque very early when it was just you, Randa and Neville. Neville isn't confident and Randa always relied on you because you are her older brother. When Hermione came around you took down a notch or two but after a few challenges she settled at being the beta because of your experience as a leader."

"And with Charlie and Minnie and Teddy and Alana it's a bit harder because you started on equal level with Charlie and Teddy, separately I should add," his Dad said calmly. "Minnie and Alana automatically look up to their brothers but since Charlie doesn't want to be a leader, it's entirely subconscious, he gave up without a fight and happily accepted your leadership. Teddy is still trying to struggle but considering everything which happened. He needs comfort and someone who… can be his older brother on whom he can rely. The fact that you are the youngest from all your friends who are your age has nothing to do with the numbers, but everything with your maturity and your kind heart."

"That still leaves me with a Quidditch team shacking in my bed," Regulus grimaced.

"That can be changed and you know it," his Mum said gently.

"I do," Regulus nodded. "But still I could get used to sleeping on my own. You think that if I asked them to stay in their own beds they would listen?"

His Mum nodded simply and suddenly her eyes lit as she said, "I cannot believe why I didn't remember about it sooner."

Regulus looked up at her quizzically and watched as she was rummaging through the drawer of her bedside table until she pulled out from the drawer a small pedant on a silver chain.

"Here," she said as she placed it around Regulus's neck. "We decided to give a try to a dream catcher with slight improvement - a dream catcher with Occlumency shields."

"But I know Occlumency Dad," Regulus said sceptically.

"You know the basics and you can withstand a short attack," his Dad said pointedly. "You have decent shields because of being an Animagus and having extended training in duelling. There is a reason why only adults fully master Occlumency, Reggie. It requires extreme amount of self control and concentration. Naturally you would be able to achieve it even now but then you would be occluding only and once you would finish you would be too tired to do anything else."

"Point taken," Regulus sighed. "How does it work then if my own shields don't match yours?"

"Once you would master using the pedant you would be able to close your mind completely," his Dad supplied. "There is something which your mother hadn't told you yet. This pedant is supposed to protect you but at the same time the magic which we used to create it is considered as dark…"

"So that means not showing off," Regulus nodded. "Got it."

"There shouldn't be any showing off Reggie, not if it works," his Mum said calmly. "Only you, us and Sev know of its existence so only the four of us would be able to see it."

"So how does it work? Like telepathy?" Regulus asked eagerly.

"Not really…" his Dad said. "Though in some way it seems like telepathy but it's not. The magic in the pedant is connected to our own mind shields and while we won't be able to read each other's thoughts we would be able to tell if you are using the shields and from the amount of concentration which you would be pulling from us…"

"We would be able to feel the power of your shield," his Mum said. "You might not know it but all people occlude every time they concentrate on something. It's the one of two lowest levels of Occlumency vowed into the pedant. Using your standard shields, your own concentration your occlude without the help of the pedant, that's standard level for you. Your own Occlumency which we would be able to feel because we would know that you aren't pulling any concentration from us."

"You mean that there is something lower than that?" Regulus asked sceptically.

"Quite," his Dad confirmed. "To put it on visuals at this level your mind is able to form a wall around itself but it's not very high and it has gaps in it. The lowest level and alarming one on that is no wall at all which is a sign that you are in danger."

"There is an upper level which you achieve when you are on alert, when you still use Occlumency subconsciously," his Mum said. "It's a higher wall, with something akin to window or door which filters what enters your mind."

"But there are higher levels Reg," his Dad said. "Like the one when you allow someone to use Legilimency on you and you are feeding them with false images. You are able to withstand this sort of an attack for about a minute to five on your own. Skilled Occlumens can do it all the time. But there is also the highest level of Occlumency."

"Complete lock down," Regulus mumbled.

"Another sign of danger especially if your levels of Occlumency increase rapidly. It's a level when your brain shuts down everything else to bare minimum your body needs to survive to keep protecting your mind," his Dad said.

"Closed room without a way to get in or out," Regulus mumbled.

"More commonly known as coma or catatonia. Take your pick," his Mum said. "The levels of Occlumency which you are supposed to use to keep your nightmares at bay is the level of false images. Building a wall between yourself and the nightmares and imagining that they cannot pass through the wall but that you can show them what you want and not the other way around."

"So you figured out what's happening in my head?" Regulus asked nervously. "What it is?"

"Haunting of the trapped," his Dad said quietly. "Extremely rare and all cases which concern children your age or younger are…"

"Incurable and therefore fatal," his Mum said gently. "The trapped is not a ghost because it has no physical manifestation, it's more like a memory, a shadow of a mind which once existed but hadn't pass the boundary like the soul did."

"Something like the case of unfinished business," Regulus mumbled.

"Sort of," his Dad confirmed. "The reason why the haunting is so fatal for children is in their concentration and… let's be frank naivety. The stronger the trapped one gets the more easily they manipulate the child to do what they want. They become possessed until the trapped achieves what they wanted but usually they realise then that they are trapped inside the body of a child and even if they would allow the mind, the soul of a child to resurface they remind trapped. So they try to resize their control over the child …" he looked completely grim.

"… and find away to set themselves free," his Mum finished. "By killing the child they haunt."

Regulus gulped. It sounded more serious than it appeared.

"There is a ritual which can set the mind free but unfortunately it requires … maturity, on physical level…" his Dad whispered.

"Meaning?" Regulus asked meekly.

"Meaning manifestation of sexuality Reggie," his Mum said quietly.

"Ah that," Regulus sighed. "Not here yet."

"Exactly," his Dad said quietly. "You aren't there yet and until we would be able to prepare the ritual there is nothing else other than supplying you with stronger mental shields to keep the trapped one at bay. That's why it's essential for you to clear your mind as best as you can."

"And so we wait," Regulus sighed.

"We wait," his Mum said quietly.

* * *

Comparing to what he learned in the morning the funeral was dull. Well not really because for funeral it had quite good weather, shining sun and blue sky.

The funeral itself was slightly delayed by the previous funeral which didn't end before noon in small chapel at the graveyard. After waiting for about five minutes during which the previous funeral didn't end his Dad slipped inside the chapel and came back a moment later with a very grim expression on his face.

"Good old Millicent," he sighed as he seated himself on the bench in front of the chapel.

"Bagnold?" Regulus's Mum asked sceptically.

"Ditto," his Dad nodded. "But then again we should have expected that. I mean she was quite old already when I started to work as an Auror and I'm not a springy teen anymore."

"That's Minister's Bagnold funeral in the chapel?" Teddy asked timidly.

"That's why it's taking so long Teddy," his Dad sighed. "When I peeked inside they were intonating '_Left Us Already_" hymn though for her more appropriate is the hymn _'Left Us Finally'_."

"What's the difference?" asked Charlie nervously.

"_Left us Finally_ is meant for people who pass away from old age and she certainly did pass away from old age," his Dad explained. "But she was a Minister of Magic so that granted her _'Left Us Already'_."

_Left us already_

_And is no more._

_There is a hole._

_A terrible hole._

_With what we fill it_

_We still don't know._

_Left us already_

_And is no more._

_Left us already_

_And is no more._

_The dawn had come_

_She is no more._

_Left us already_

_Merlin bless her soul._

_Left us already_

_Passed through the veil_

_Left us already_

_Merlin bless her soul_

_Left us already_

_When the twilight came_

_When the wind had blown_

_Across mourning land._

_Left us already_

_And she is no more._

_Where will we find the strength…_

_Oh, Merlin bless her soul._

_Left us already_

_The sky mourns her too_

_My brother and sister shed a tear or two_

_Left us already_

_And the ground mourns too._

_The wind had whispered_

_Shed a tear or two._

_Left us already_

_Through the land she passed._

_Every nook and cranny of her former home_

_Whispers I was there_

_And I'm here no more._

Regulus's Mum's voice was soft as she was singing the old hymn and with small satisfaction Reggie watched how all eyes had settled on her. Though he didn't feel satisfaction when he saw that Teddy's and Alana's eyes were full of tears.

"They are coming out," his Uncle Severus observed quietly. "Black you should…" he motioned with his head at the chapel.

Regulus's Dad nodded slowly as he stood up from the bench and approached the coffin with Minister's Bagnold's body. He gave small nod to the coffin and he saluted.

The area around the chapel slowly started clearing up as the mourners followed the coffin to the final resting place of the minister. Regulus noted, not without any irony that only few faces carried true grief while the rest simply remained sombre and statuesque.

Mrs Nott's funeral didn't start and yet he was able to tell that this funeral was going to be different. There were Teddy and Alana, and Mum and Aunt Sheba and Regulus knew that Teddy and Alana were on the verge of bursting in tears and his Mum and Aunt were just as close.

And just as he felt it would intonating '_Left Us_ _Already_' reduced Teddy and Alana into sobbing mess, brought tears into Regulus's Mum, Aunt Sheba's and Dora's eyes, made his Dad and Uncle Remus blink furiously, while Randa, Minnie and Charlie were sniffling softly.

At first Regulus didn't cry but sometime in the middle of _'__Left Us Already__'_ he was struck by a thought how different things would be if it was his Mum or Dad, and that was what opened an avalanche of grief he wasn't aware that he had.

The only pair of eyes which had remained dry belonged to his Uncle Severus but long time ago Regulus had learned that his Uncle Severus was unable to cry and his pained expression spoke more than tears which didn't fall.

The journey to Mrs Nott's final resting place was short. Her tombstone was made out of black marble with a silver engraving but other than that it was plain and not posh like the tombs of the Black or the Malfoy families.

The wizard which was performing the ceremony clearly was forbidden to say anything because when a supposed time for a speech had came it was Regulus's Dad who stepped ahead and approached Mrs Nott's coffin and not the man.

"I could intonate _'__Left Us Already__'_ Nattie," his Dad said softly. "But it would be an insult to your memory and it wouldn't change anything. My father once said that the true measure of a man or woman is not in their titles or big achievements nor is in the number of mourners which come to their funeral. They come to mourn, in a flurry of pained and sombre faces and dark robes, sometimes they shed a tear or two, sometimes they don't. But once the funeral ends they go home and nothing changes.

"Only a man or woman of true value can change the others. To their funerals go not the people who think that it's their duty, that it's appropriate thing to do. To those funerals go people who knew and loved them. They don't go there to mourn but to weep, to grieve but not the achievements and job half done but the person they knew, loved and cared for.

"To know you Nattie was to love you - to respect your strength and your brilliant mind, to admire your bravery and dedication in everything you did. You were a beacon of light for your children and a rock in the storm for your friends even when, or rather especially then, when you were the one who needed their help. On all of us you left a mark of love, devotion and admiration, the mark which is deeper and stronger than death.

"I hope that where you had gone you are with those for who you loved and cared for. That you are sitting under your favourite cherry tree with blooming flowers with your mother and daughter by your side, sharing a glass of wine and having a good laugh at this cretin down on earth who is trying his best to put into words something which can't be put in words.

"The best words which come to my mind is the poem which my father told me when I was still a kid and was distraught with my Aunt's death. Even after all these years it still rings true…

"I cannot say, and will not say that she is dead. She is just away. With a cheery smile, and a wave of hand she wandered into an unknown land. And left us dreaming how very fair it needs must be, since she lingers there. And you-oh, you, who the wildest year for an old-time step, and the glad return, think of her faring on as dear in the love of There as the love of Here. Think of her still as the same I say, she is not dead, she is just away."

* * *

**Awaiting criticism - like always. I'm replying as long as you leave me your email or you log in while reviewing. Bring my ego down ;)**

_I hope that centred poetry didn't offend your senses? I will try to avoid using my crappy poetic powers in the future but to my defence the conversation which took place before that manifestation of that **I-wannabe-something-poetic-but-since-my-author-cannot-write-decent-poems-I-will-simply-settle-for-taking-place-on-the-page-and-will-try-to-look-like-a-convincing-poem** was asking for something more than a frequent mention of its name (and boy, it's like the longest name ever ; ) ). _**  
**


	9. Chapter 9: Pack Instinct

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Harry Potter or anything what you can recognize from the books. I do however own the plot of this story but I don't have profits because of it unless you count improving my English as a profit. _I don't own also the poem which Sirius speaks at the end of the chapter - James Whitcomb Riley does or rather did since the poem is old and the author is dead. Again however I own that wannabe hymn - unless, highly impossible, I remembered it from somewhere and when it came to writing it I was writing from my memory rather than producing that poetic... well try to ignore it if it offends your senses._

Thanks to **omega13a** for beta-reading and helpful suggestions.

Dedicated to all my wonderful Readers, specifically to BaltaineShadow, allidiane23 and Stephy-Lou Clark-Weasley.

**Important Author's Note - To Be Acknowledged and Accepted** (as if You, my dear Readers have a choice in that matter - it happened so deal with it). Cross posted on profile and each chapter which happened to be posted after the change:

_Maud Greyluck formerly known as Mrs Sniffy. The reason for the change is quite simple, I grew out of Mrs Sniffy, which until now was my first penname for six years. Why Maud and why Greyluck? Frankly not because I get lucky when I wear grey and I'm huge fan of Lucy Maud Montgomery. I picked Maud because it's a shorter version of my own name and Greyluck because it almost sounds like my own surname._

Also I'm apologizing for the delay, it was partly my fault and partly the fault of RL which first struck me and then struck my beta. I'm not promising fast updates, which at the moment are the last thing on my mind (RL still bothers me) but I'm definitely promising ... some signs of life in October. Aforementioned signs might also involve profile makeover (including removal of things I rather not speak - and yes I'm talking about Brother Brother series, though I will withhold deleting the series until the end of October - I need time to decide what goes away and what stays).

* * *

**Chapter nine: Pack Instinct.**

**R. B.**

The truce was only temporary. Ron laid off flinching and frowning when Teddy was in close vicinity and Teddy didn't try to glare a hole through Ron's head. Regulus knew that it was only a matter of time before both boys would blow up. He simply didn't expect that it would happen because of him. The reason itself couldn't be more ridiculous.

It was Thursday afternoon, the lessons had ended not so long ago. The girls after History lesson went home with Mum while the Gryffindors started getting more worried about the first flying lesson which they were supposed to share with Slytherin.

Personally Regulus was more worried about what Draco might come up with rather than being unable to fly. When you had parents who played on the Quidditch teams when they were at Hogwarts you hardly needed any lessons (especially if he spent the first four years of his life as a Black zooming around the castle adding to it more than handful of weekends in a year where he and Randa were required to spend at Hogwarts).

No, he wasn't worrying about flying, not at all. That would be Neville who could fly on Reggie's Mum old Cleansweep when it was charmed to fly no higher than five feet above the ground, and even then Nev was keeping the handle in a vicious grip which could put lobsters to shame. On the same broom Regulus used to twirl in the air making poor Neville who was usually standing on the ground turn slightly green.

So flying on an old Meteor was nothing he feared (other than dying from boredom but that couldn't be classified as an accident).

After lunch the whole group marched to the grounds between the castle and the Quidditch pitch where the lesson was supposed to take place. Saint Trio of Pink Nails looked a bit green, Hermione had a permanent frown etched on her face and Neville looked as if he was going to faint.

"Remember the old Cleansweep?" he asked cheekily as he walked between Hermione and Neville and wrapped his arms around them. "Meteors are even slower. In fact they are so slow that even butterflies fly faster."

"I know that we used to fly on your Mum's Cleansweep Reg," Hermione sighed. "But it's not Grimmauld or your Grandpa's house in the country."

"It's a lesson Hermione," Regulus nodded. "A simple lesson and both of you had them with my dad already."

"Your dad had a charm on the broom," Neville flinched. "These brooms don't have them."

"If it would make you feel better I put the same charm on yours?" Regulus offered.

"Really?" Neville asked hopefully.

"Really," Regulus grinned.

"Can you put one on mine too?" Teddy asked nervously, he suddenly appeared by Neville's other side.

Regulus only smiled.

It was a typical lesson, like those he liked to watch from Mum's office when he was a little kid, with Madam Hooch walking between two opposite rows of students with their brooms on the ground. Regulus quickly used the occasion when Madam Hooch's back was turned to him too cast the spell on Hermione's, Neville's and Teddy's brooms. He didn't put one on Dannie's broom and in retrospection he realised that he should.

They barely managed to call their brooms to their hands and mounted them when Dannie's broom started rapidly raising in the air.

"Eiiiiiii!" she squealed until she became just a small spot on the sky.

Regulus looked up at Madam Hooch, barely managed to resist the urge to hex her into New Year for standing there with her jaw dropped (but then again from what he managed to observe over the years something like that had never happened before…).

Without realising what he was doing, he mounted his broom and shot into the sky as fast as it was possible. Within seconds he was within ten feet next to Dannie whose broom started making figure eights horizontally and Dannie herself looked positively green.

"Dannie!" he howled through the wind. "Take a deep breath, hold tight, you might close your eyes if you want to but most important of all think about something pleasant."

"Reggie!" Dannie groaned.

"Please," Regulus said as calmly as possible. "For me. Something nice. Like your mum's garden in the spring when it's covered with magnolia flowers."

Dannie closed her eyes and he saw her tightening her grip on the handle. She had to calm down because the broom started slowing down, just enough for him to level with her.

"You are doing great, Dannie," he complemented her truthfully. "Now I want you to let your right hand leave the handle."

"No!" Dannie yelped.

"Relax, Dannie, I'm right by your side," Regulus continued calming her down.

"Really?" she asked nervously and she opened one eye to look at him.

"See, it wasn't that hard," he smiled at her. "Do you feel that you can come back to the ground on your own?"

Dannie shook her head adamantly.

Regulus sighed and he extended his left hand to her as he said, "Can you throw your right leg over my broom handle, Dannie?"

She shook her head so viciously that she swayed on the broom and lost her balance. She managed to grab the handle with her left hand and Regulus quickly made a circle in the air so he was directly under Dannie.

"Eiii," she yelped when the handle slipped out from her fingers.

He extended his arms and grabbed her tightly in a bridal style. He spared a single glance to her lose broom which suddenly pivoted downwards in alarming speed.

"All right?" he asked calmly as he helped her get more comfortable on the broom.

He wrapped his left arm behind her back as he gripped the handle with his left hand before he brought his right hand to do the same.

"I'm alive," Dannie mumbled.

"Wrap your right arm around my shoulders and keep your left hand on the handle. I will get us down but I need you to remain calm, okay?" he said firmly.

She nodded, gripped his shoulders with her right hand as viciously as her left hand was gripping the handle but at least remained silent. The fact that she closed her eyes helped a bit too.

Their descent was slow, he didn't want to embarrass her by a sudden change of heights so he was lowering the broom slowly.

He was about twenty feet over the ground when he looked down at the stunned group below them and barely managed to not smash into Draco. Several feet away from Regulus's cousin was hovering rather angry Charlie.

"If you want to get it so much why don't you catch it?" Draco taunted Charlie.

"Give Dannie's Rememberball you sodding dimwit," Charlie sneered. "Your dad can't afford one, huh?"

Regulus snorted softly, not enough for other two to hear him and he flicked his wrist so his wand left its holster.

"Accio Dannie's Rememberball," he whispered before he flicked his wrist again, making the wand vanish in his sleeve just in time to catch the Rememberball in it.

He sneered at stunned Draco who turned immediately to him.

"Stealing Draco?" Regulus snarled. "Such a low behaviour for a pure-blood." Then he tapped Dannie's shoulder and said, "It's yours."

"Thanks Reggie," Dannie sniffled as she quickly pocketed her Rememberball.

"Down the lot of you!" Hooch howled from the ground. "Potter to Professor McGonagall! Malfoy to Professor Snape! You will both inform your Heads why you lost your houses fifty points and bought yourself a month of detentions with Mr Filch."

Regulus snorted as he slowly landed on the ground.

"Black," Hooch hissed. "Twenty points to Gryffindor for rescuing a classmate! Take her to Madam Pomfrey while I will make sure that the rest of these idiots won't get themselves killed."

Dannie sniffled softly.

"Easy there," Regulus beamed at her. "You are safe, we are going to bring you to Madam Pomfrey, she will give you some calming draught and chocolate."

"I was so scared," she admitted.

"You are safe now," he said calmly.

He stayed with Dannie when Madam Pomfrey had given her a calming draught and huge bar of chocolate, until poor girl fell asleep.

Outside the door to hospital wing he ran into Hermione, Neville and Teddy. The last of them looked like he was about to burst.

"You won't believe it!" Teddy snarled. "Right after you took off after Dannie, Madam Hooch dashed to the Quidditch Pitch to get a faster broom from the locker rooms. She barely managed to vanish from the sight when those two idiots started bickering over the Rememberball. Before anyone could stop them they took off."

"Well I managed to figured that out on my own, Teddy," Regulus grimaced. "And I take that it's not the only reason why you look like you want to kill someone."

"McGonagall," Teddy huffed. "Charlie went to her, told her what he had done and boom, he is Gryffindor's Seeker, has no detention and regained the points."

Regulus frowned as he felt a stab of jealousy. He didn't think about it but if he was sincere with himself he pictured himself as the Gryffindor Seeker. He was flying since he remembered and in all games he played with older students he was always a seeker and had yet to lose a match. The fact that his Mum and Uncle Regulus were seekers when they were at Hogwarts and he had being a seeker in his blood was also a huge factor.

It would be easy to throw a hissy fit but he was more mature than that. Seriously…

"And that's it?" Regulus asked calmly.

"That's it?" Teddy huffed. "That's it? You didn't hear Wood at Monday, he was practically begging you to show up at tryouts on Saturday? I was there. You were supposed to be our Seeker."

"Teddy," Regulus sighed. "There is no need to get offended on my part, really. Besides," he paused and tried to come up with a good reason to persuade Teddy to calm down, "better him than me. If I got this position everybody would be talking that I got it just because my Mum teaches here. Plus I happen to know Wood well enough, he is a psychopath when it comes to Quidditch, I'd prefer to take him at some older age than eleven, really."

"But it's still unfair!" Teddy huffed again.

"That's life Theodore," Regulus grimaced. "Where are Dannie's girlfriends?"

"Went to your uncle to rat on Malfoy," Hermione answered.

"Good," Regulus smirked. "I knew that the git was planning something. He really deserves all punishment he can get."

After walking all the way to Gryffindor tower he really hoped to get some peace. Hoped was an operative word and meant nothing when Teddy and Ron were concerned. They started a shouting match which even Ron's older brother Percy the Prefect couldn't stop for better part of half an hour and when both of them were sent upstairs to their dormitory to think about their atrocious behaviour under silencing charms which were supposed to be removed after dinner Regulus wasted no time to hide.

The early years which he had spend at Hogwarts taught him a lot and he could safely say that amongst the students he was the only person who knows the castle as the back of his hand.

So he locked himself up in an empty classroom on the seventh floor with a beautiful view at the lake. The window which he had chosen had small alcove but quite big enough for him to fit there.

He expected to have some peace and didn't consider the possibility of a company. The company had arrived in the form of Professor Brainslook.

"Green eyed monster?" Brainslook asked sympathetically.

"I'm not jealous, Professor," he sighed but after a moment he admitted, "Well maybe just a little but I'm not throwing a hissy fit. Teddy and Ronald are good enough on their own with it."

"And you expected them to be mature about something as important as Quidditch?" Brainslook asked with a smirk.

"I don't know Ron, well not really good at least," Regulus shrugged. "I expected a bit more maturity from Teddy though."

"Maturity and Quidditch never belong to the same sentence Regulus," Brainslook snickered. "Especially with brotherly offence in the way."

"Brotherly?" Regulus asked sceptically.

"At least from young Messer's Nott and Weasley point of view," Brainslook shrugged as he sat down on the opposite side of the alcove. "Each of them is trying to protect his brother's right to play."

Regulus glared at the older man.

"Teddy always had to be more the mature one Regulus. He was always the older brother, the rock in the storm, the more sensible one and such jazz," Brainslook explained. "For him it's natural even if he doesn't see that he is the one who sometimes needs to lean on someone stronger than him."

"Ah, you mean that," Regulus said quickly as the realisation and his previous talk with mum dawned on him. "I'm the more mature one and as you said such jazz, sir."

"Quite," Brainslook nodded. "Your mother asked me, of course if it wouldn't be a problem to be a listening ear for Theodore when he felts like it. It's no problem at all, nothing different from what I was doing at Beauxbatons."

"They have a school counsellor?" Regulus asked curiously.

"They had one when I was around," Brainslook said cheekily. "I'm not really sure about who they have now. Anyway," he sighed, "part of my job is observing how the student who I'm counselling acts between his peers, psychological jazz but a necessary one if my counselling should do not harm. I'm not sure that you are aware of it but during last week I observed all of you and managed to work out general diagram of group dynamics."

"With me in the front?" Regulus said sourly.

"Only by inches," Brainslook said sympathetically. "Together with Miss Granger. It's actually quite interesting picture because the group and you should know that I'm taking into account also your sisters consists of smaller groups which have their own dynamics."

Regulus quirked his eyebrows at that.

"There is you, the initial leader, a sensible one who doesn't use your status to achieve your own ends, nevertheless the others look up to you for advice or the final word," Brainslook explained. "The core of your group is Miss Granger and Mister Longbottom and of course your sister Miranda. Curiously Miranda leads a group of her own, which consists from other two girls. Young Theodore wavers between your group and that of your sister."

"And where is Charlie?" Regulus asked sceptically.

"He tries to be in your group. He is really doing his best to fit in as just a normal member of the group, but young Mister Weasley has other ideas and often coaxes him to challenge your leadership. You are familiar with pack hierarchy, aren't you?"

"I'm the alpha wolf," Regulus shrugged.

"One of a pair," Brainslook nodded. "You and Miss Granger are alphas. From what I managed to observe you have very parenting tendencies especially towards the pups. Young Mister Longbottom is a pup too, though a slightly older one. Young Charlus and Ronald are the rebellious pups…"

"And Teddy is the lone, punishing one?" Regulus asked sceptically.

"Not so lone but indeed a protective one," Brainslook smirked. "Wolves are very interesting animals. In a forest near Beauxbatons lives a very big pack and part of Care of Magical Creatures curriculum is observing their habits."

"Really?" Regulus asked curiously. "That's why you refer to pack hierarchy."

"Perhaps I'm biased," Brainslook shrugged. "But for me relations between people very often remind of wolves relations. The pack, the territory… Take your pick."

"Of course," Regulus breathed out. "Ron is trying to protect his territory but here at Hogwarts he had to step into our territory, into a more or less formed pack and he feels threatened. Why I didn't think about it before?" he smashed his forehead with his left palm.

"Because you are a human?" Brainslook offered. "You are more of a human than a wolf and you think with your human side rather than canine one. Plus the pack here is your pack where you are the alpha wolf not the one where you are just a grown up pup."

"You're point being, sir?" Regulus asked sceptically.

"Your parents," Brainslook said simply. "Professor Dumbledore informed me of your mother's condition because he knew that I would understand what ails her, and also to fill in for her lessons if my timetable would allow that."

"So you know it," Regulus mumbled.

"Does her condition makes her less of a human?" Brainslook asked sceptically. "A lesser mother than… let's say Ronald's mother?"

"Absolutely no!" Regulus huffed. "She is the best mother under the sun."

"Or moon," Brainslook smirked.

"Whatever," Regulus rolled his eyes. "I wouldn't change her or dad for the world."

The talk with Brainslook really helped him come to terms with his own leadership. That's why he was aware of what he was doing when he told Hermione and Neville to remain in the common room while he went upstairs to sort out his troublesome pups.

He explained to Ron, and partly to Charlie since it wasn't really his fault, to not challenge Teddy in coming weeks because of his mother's death.

Later during dinner, with Teddy within earshot he complemented Charlie for getting into Quidditch team, while not wasting the time or opportunity to tell Charlie stories about Wood – in favour of overprotective Teddy who spend rest of the meal smirking like mad.

"What prompted you to do that?" Hermione asked sceptically when she, Regulus and Neville, with Teddy tagging behind them, were walking back to Gryffindor tower.

"Pack instinct, Hermione," Regulus smirked. "Pups got a bit out of the hand and I needed to clear some points with them. I will be surprised if given time they wouldn't come back with a tail between their legs."

"You can't be any less cryptic, can you?" Teddy snorted.

"That's a part of my charm, Theodore," Regulus snickered. "You will learn to live with that."

"And since we are talking about living," Teddy said quickly. "I have your dad's blessing to pester you about meditation techniques."

"What for?" Regulus asked faster than he put together why his dad would suggest such a thing.

Animagi transformation hugely relied on meditation and therefore the ability of clearing one's mind. Without being aware of who you were deep inside the potion which was supposed to form the vision of your animal in your mind wouldn't work. So if his Dad had given him his blessing to teach meditation techniques…

Regulus grinned just as an idea struck him. It would be the best to talk it over with his Dad.

**S. B.**

Thursday was his day off from work and if he was sincere with himself he would rather be at work than deal with the whinny Slugtruckars kids, who were forbidden by their parents to join Randa, Minnie and Alana in History lessons at Hogwarts. It didn't matter that the trio was gone for a little more than an hour, they were gone and that was it. To make things worse Verma Slugtruckar was at work, in a Muggle gallery which she owned and was preparing for a grand opening of the newest display. Albus, the lucky one stayed just long enough to say 'no' to his kids before he left to work.

That left Sirius struck with the duo and a pile of paperwork. Even Remus managed to get away to Auror Academy where he was filling in for Terrence Turner, Duelling Master who after a duel gone awry landed himself in St Mungo.

"Uncle Siri!" his namesake whined. "Can we go to Hogwarts?"

"You in four years and your sister in two," Sirius answered quickly. "I'm not going against your parents' wishes, Sirius," he answered as calmly as he could.

"But the girls went," little Sirius protested.

"Because they are my daughters Sirius," he said sternly. "Which means that Aunt Mimi and I are responsible for them and our decision is final," at the hopeful look on kid's face he added quickly, "for the three of them." The boy scowled and Sirius added before he could stop himself, "Don't scowl unless you want it to become permanent."

"Uncle Siri!" the boy whined again.

'Where is Albus? I'm going to throttle him,' Sirius thought frantically.

At least the return of the girls made little Slugs's attention shift elsewhere and he was able to tackle huge part of his pile before tea time.

He was about to take a break from filling in the report's when McGonagall's head showed in his fireplace.

"We need to talk," she said cryptically. "Would it be a problem if I came through?"

"Not at all," Sirius said simply. "Did something happened to…"

"Yes and no," McGonagall said sourly. "Call your wife here, please."

He called Mirzam off her grading in the dinning-room. His wife arrived just as McGonagall stepped into the room.

"Had…" Mirzam started but McGonagall didn't let her finish.

"Your sons are safe," McGonagall said quickly. "Or at least unharmed. Though I cannot say that they are peaceful. I forgot how much chaos first years with surnames Black and Potter can cause."

Sirius grimaced before he said, "What they had done this time?"

Mirzam looked at older woman and motioned at one of the armchairs, on which McGonagall sat quickly just as the two of them settled on the other armchair, with Sirius on the seat and Mirzam on the arm.

"You know that second week of September is scheduled for flying lessons for first years. To be frank I expected Regulus to come to me and whine about freeing him from that obligation. He didn't…"

"And?" Mirzam asked impatiently.

"To make long story short," McGonagall said swiftly. "Young Ms Greengrass lost the control over her broom, Rolanda was too stunned to react in the first moment, which couldn't be said about Regulus, who dashed after the girl. During her abrupt take off Ms Greengrass dropped her Rememberball. When Rolanda dashed for her broom to help Regulus with Ms Greengrass young Charlus got into an argument about Ms Greengrass's Rememberball with young Malfoy. Against Rolanda's orders both took off and started fighting over the little ball. Thankfully your son stopped their argument by summoning the Rememberball and returning it to its rightful owner."

"How big is the damage?" Sirius asked pensively.

"I made young Charlus Gryffindor Seeker," McGonagall announced.

"Bad move," Mirzam grimaced. "Very bad move."

"Reggie was hoping to play," Sirius nodded slowly. "Plus Charlie, like James, is only reserve seeker material, he had more fun with playing as a Chaser when the boys were playing during the summer."

"I wasn't thinking about it Paddy," Mirzam snorted. "Sure Reggie will be disappointed that he didn't make it but he isn't going to fuss about it but Teddy will. Just this morning during the break he was talking with me about Wood's ideas about the best brooms for Reggie. According to Teddy Wood was practically begging Reggie to show up on tryouts on Saturday."

McGonagall grimaced.

"Maybe it's for the best Moonchild," Sirius sighed. "I mean Charlie is Charlie, the Boy-Who-Lived, people won't be protesting too much if he would make Quidditch team in his first year. Reggie is our son and if he made it he would be having problems with other Gryffs who would think that he got the spot just because his mother teaches there."

"I know," Mirzam grimaced. "However I'm allowed to feel disappointed on my son's behalf."

"Me too," Sirius admitted. "I will talk with him after dinner."

"Your visit in Gryffindor tower…" McGonagall said briskly.

"Who said I'm going to visit the tower?" Sirius smirked. "I said that I'm going to talk with Reggie."

**R. B.**

After Ron had left with Charlie to accompany the other boy to his first training with Wood and Teddy together with Neville were doing their reading about meditation Regulus decided that it was high time to have a word with his dad.

He barely managed to settle himself on his bed and pull out the mirror from his pocket when the surface flashed with blue light and he found himself staring at his Dad's face.

"Hi Dad," he smirked as particularly big scope of foam fell into his Dad's eye.

"Reggie," Dad grinned I was hoping to talk with you, then he grimaced, "A moment if you will." Dad's head vanished under the surface only to raise a moment later accompanied by a snort, "I'm never playing with your sister in the garden again, especially after rain."

Regulus snickered, "It was that puddle of mud in the corner of the graden, wasn't it?"

"Well yes," Dad admitted as he whipped remaining foam to the back of his head. "But I didn't want to talk about that."

"McGonagall, Quidditch and Charlie then?" Regulus asked simply. "I'm fine with it Dad, a little jealous but only a little because I know that Charlie will be moaning and groaning about Oliver's psychopathic tendencies before the first match."

"Seriously?" Dad asked sceptically.

"Well I'm not turning green, Dad," Regulus smiled. "Since we are at it Charlie requires something faster than your old Nimbus 1500 or Mum's Cleansweep 5. Wood mentioned Cleansweep 7 or Nimbus 2000."

"So said your mother after a talk with Teddy," Dad said. "Though they were discussing a good broom for you."

"She is disappointed, isn't she?" Regulus asked timidly.

"Just a bit and on your behalf not hers," Dad answered simply. "It's not the end of the world. I didn't make the team until the middle of my second year and in fact neither did your Uncle Regulus. Your grandfather was even worse, he made the team in his sixth year."

"Wood isn't leaving before the end of my third year Dad," Regulus said. "The earliest tryouts will be in my fourth year."

"Fourth year is still better than sixth you know," Dad said briskly. "Besides Quidditch is a sport of accidents and while I don't wish any to fall on Charlie there is a big possibility that he won't be playing in some of future matches and Olivier would require a reserve Seeker."

"But rather not in this year," Regulus observed. "What about you and Uncle Regulus? Were you always fighting over Qudditch much?"

"Every freaking minute," Dad chuckled. "Especially when your mother was concerned. In her school days she was the best Seeker at Hogwarts, with Reg at her heels. But then again Slytherin had slightly better Chasers than Ravenclaw. That's why your mother mostly were catching snitches but Ravenclaw was still losing their matches. Gryffindor had exact opposite. Our Seeker was a walking disaster, James was reasonably talented flyer but by our fourth year it became evident that we needed to replace him with someone lighter and made him one of the Chasers or a Keeper because he was good at that."

"Did you?" Regulus asked curiously.

"Not until end of our fifth year, he was made a Chaser and three minutes into his first official game as a Chaser he was knocked out of his broom and was sent to hospital wing with a concussion. So I was left on the pitch with Oscar Wood, Oliver's father and our Keeper, and what's her face as our Seeker, who was actually the most decent from those who tried out but far from Regulus, if a bit more stubborn. Plus our other Cheaser Hopkins."

"And the Slytherins?"

"Warrington, the Keeper was a though work and their chasers were hardly able to tell apart where was the front of the broom. Wood was dying out of boredom by our loops. But that wasn't the best match of them all. The best was the final match between Gryffindor and Slytherin in my seventh year. It was the only match in this century when Gryffindor and Slytherin were tying in the points after all matches with other houses."

Regulus snickered, "It was a real piece of work."

"Don't tell me," Dad snorted. "Fifteen minutes into the game and James and Hopkins were knocked out by stray bludgers and James was our Captain. Wood by then was gone and his replacement looked completely terrified. Kevan and Graham, our Beaters were decent but day before the match they were suffering from sudden case of diarrhoea, courtesy to your Uncle's team mates. We managed to replace the previous seeker but he still wasn't as good as Reg was or your mum. But back to the game, before other two had lost control over their senses together we managed to score 150 points by keeping the Slytherin vultures away from the Quaffle because if it wasn't for that we would lose more than five goals to them. So when other two had taken a trip to lala land I flew to our Keeper and informed him at great lengths that if he won't start saving the goals then after the match I will personally degut him and will hang his insides in Hogwart's loos as a warning to all shitty Keepers."

Regulus snorted at that, "I bet that it worked."

"Sure it did. He only lost ten goals while I managed to score another fourteen," Dad grinned. "And here comes the last goal, the Quaffle flies through the loops and just when I heard a ding of scored point I heard Hooch's whistle proclaiming the end of the match."

"Who won?" Regulus asked eagerly.

"You will never guess," Dad grimaced. "Reg caught the snitch exactly in the moment I scored my fifteenth goal after other two Chasers had left the pitch."

Regulus quickly calculated the total sum of points and mumbled, "You tied."

"We tied," Dad grimaced. "Reg and I were immediately at each other's throats insulting another with things like, 'Oh you fucking sissy you just had to catch it now, couldn't wait until I scored another point?' 'Oh, I'm a fucking sissy? Then you are a fucking dolt, you just had to score that goal, didn't you?'"

Regulus burst in laugh at that.

"But the weirdest thing was our dad," Dad continued. "We started to have a fistfight when Dad approached us, hugged us both at the same time and said, 'I'm proud of you both.'"

"I bet that it was quite a stunner," Regulus snickered.

"It was," Dad chuckled. "We apologised to each other and proclaimed temporal truce."

The mention of temporal truce brought to Regulus's mind a reminder about Dad's blessing to teach Teddy meditating techniques.

"Since we are at it," Regulus said quickly. "Teddy told me that he got your blessing to learn meditation from me."

"He did," Dad nodded eagerly. "Charlie too, though being slightly pissed off Teddy probably failed to pass you that part."

"I was thinking," Regulus sighed. "Since I will be already training Teddy and Charlie I could train Hermione, Neville and Ron as well?"

"Are you sure?" Dad asked sceptically. "That's quite a lot of people to teach, even for you."

"Hermione would grill me otherwise Dad," Regulus shrugged. "Plus she would be helping me with the others, you know her. Neville could use another reason to be confident and Ron would be doing a perfect impression of a Basilisk if I would try to take Charlie away from him without getting him involved. So as you see my idea is quite a selfish one."

"I will send the potion with your mother tomorrow," Dad said and then he added more seriously, "You know the drill."

"No transforming or attempts at such until you have time to train us. Got it. Plus you really expect any of them to change on their first try?" Regulus asked sceptically.

"So says the boy who was stuck as a puppy for two days before I managed to figure out that it wasn't a simple accident but your stubbornness which made you transform immediately," Dad said cheekily.

"Daaaad!" Regulus whined.

Despite his best efforts it wasn't until a week later when he managed to get the whole group seated in boy's dormitory without the aforementioned group breaking into another fight. But then again a particularly good Potions lesson where Gryffindor hadn't lost any points but Slytherin did, due to Crabbe and Goyle being dunderheads (which meant that uncle Severus simply lost his patience with them, but who wouldn't after botching up a bruise-salve so much that it caused the ceiling above their cauldron to start to cave in).

Sensing that he couldn't get a more perfect moment than that he smirked as he announced, "I have something for you."

Five pairs of eyes turned to him as he pulled out the wooden case in which his mum delivered him: the potion under a stasis spell from under the bed and placed it on his with a big smirk on his face.

"Gentlemen, milady," Regulus said theatrically. "Allow me to introduce you to…" he hung his voice for better effect, "to Animus Potion."

As he predicted Ron only looked at him blankly, Charlie frowned. Hermione gasped in shock, her eyes were bright and a hopeful and eager look settled on her face. Teddy nearly fell from his bed and Neville actually did it.

"What's it do?" Ron asked sceptically.

"It's a potion which one needs to drink to become an Animagus," Regulus explained patiently.

"Animagus?" Ron's tone was still sceptically but on his face it was evident that he was thinking and soon enough he mumbled, "You mean like McGonagall? Wicked!"

"Will it work immediately?" Charlie asked hopefully.

"No," Regulus shook his head quickly. "Drinking Animus Potion is only a first step in the process of becoming an Animagus Charlie and it doesn't always work so you know."

"Then why…" Ron started but Regulus didn't let him finish.

"Animus potion does nothing more than helping you visualise the animal which you are," he said quickly.

"So you can't change into something you want?" Ron interrupted him. "That sucks, what if I will end as a slug?"

"Then we will make a slug soup out of you," Teddy muttered.

"Teddy! Ron!" Regulus growled. "Can I continue? Thank you. Animus potion doesn't always work not because it was done wrong way but because your personality isn't really shaped yet. The part of being an Animagus is accepting… well my father says, the darker side of your personality, things that make you who you are and not what you imagine which makes you. To be frank I don't expect any of you to succeed in finding your inner animal on the first try, my father got it by his tenth try and that's the general number of meditations which you have to have past you to connect with the animal inside you."

"How do you know that?" Ron asked sceptically.

"Because it took me twenty tries before I actually saw something other than a fog and I really had all time of my life at hand to do so," Regulus said with a grimace. "The rule for this level is simple. You can't have more than three meditations during the day otherwise you would end stuck in a coma and trust me you really don't want the rest of us to explain to Pomfrey and McGonagall how you ended up there. That's the reason why it took me a week to see something."

"Wait a minute, you are an Animagus?" Ron asked surprised. "At this age? Fred and George…" he started but stopped before he finished.

"At this they are right," Regulus said. "Animagi transformation is really hard to achieve… but what McGonagall didn't mention is that the transformation itself mastered under the eye of an Animagus is far more easier than studying on your own."

"Wicked! What you are?" Ron asked eagerly.

"I'm not telling, yet," Regulus smirked. "See something else other than a fog and I will change my mind."

"Sure I will, on the first try!" Ron huffed.

"You wish," Regulus snickered. "No one sees something other than a fog on their first try. But before we start let me inform you about another rule. There will be no transformation until all of you will see your inner animal and only then you will transform under my father's eye. Once all of you have seen their inner animal he will schedule several days in a week when we would be able to train Animagi with him. Break this rule and no one will find your body and I'm being deadly serious about it," he added more seriously to make his point.

"Is there anything what we are supposed to do while we are meditating?" Charlie asked nervously.

"Don't think," Regulus said simply. "Try to concentrate on yourself and not the world around you. Don't try to leave before the vision runs out."

"And the meditation itself?" Teddy asked.

"Simply get comfortable," Regulus said.

He observed them while they were settling themselves on their beds, Hermione, the only girl had settled on Regulus's bed while he started handing out the vials to them.

He noted not without small satisfaction the nervous looks he got. Of course he lied to them about seeing the animal at his twentieth try but so did his dad when he was learning to not make Regulus's hopes too high and actually make him determined enough to prove his father wrong.

"On the count of three you drink the potion, close your eyes and shut the world away to concentrate on yourself," Regulus announced. "I will stay with you through the whole process. Ready?"

A series of grunts answered him.

"One, two, three. Bottoms up," Regulus said.

One after another they gulped the contest of the vials, quickly closed their eyes and remained still.

Taking the advantage of their closed eyes Regulus quickly transformed into his canine alter ego and settled himself to observe their faces.

Nervousness, nervousness, shock immediately followed by acceptance and a wide grin. He actually would be disappointed if Hermione hadn't found her animal on the first try.

He shifted so he could see Neville's face better and judging from his friend's stupefied look Neville had to glimpse something which couldn't be said about Ron who had a very determined look on his face. But it was still a time for Ron to see something other than fog.

Charlie and Teddy looked equally stunned and a bit disappointed at the same time. Perhaps they don't like the inner images of themselves.

Regulus chuckled inwardly at that just as his memory of the vision came back to him. He was so deeply disappointed about ending as small, round ball of fur which happened to look like a dog and not like he wanted, like a wolf that he threw a hissy fit right after he woke up from the vision.

He smirked to himself as checked once again if he locked the door properly and curled with his nose in his tail. Within seconds he was asleep.

He woke up to a nudge into his ribs and he growled dangerously.

"Err mate," Neville mumbled. "We have a problem here. Look to your right."

He did so and came a nose to nose with brown-coated Golden Retriever (or that's how the dog in front of him looked to him). Naturally being colour-blind in this form he couldn't tell the true colour of the dog but its fur was too dark to be crème or golden and too light to be black or dark brown so that left brown and red-ish brown.

Pink tongue swiped him between his eyes and he barked in alarm. Quickly he came back to his human form, realised that he was right about the colour of the fur of his companion being brown, took a wild look around and managed to ascertain that the dog was Hermione.

"Bugger," he mumbled. "I'm sooo dead."

"How so?" asked a very amused voice.

He turned in that direction and saw Hermione sitting on his bed in her human form.

"Hermione!" he yelped. "How did you? When?"

"I heard you talking with your father about the change… I just followed the instinct while I allowed myself to keep my human mind, Mr Puppy," Hermione said simply.

Regulus smirked as he said, "You just couldn't help but defy the carnal rule of Animagi transformation to never transform after first vision."

"The key was to not jump headfirst," Hermione shrugged. "I allowed her to lead me but I didn't let her take control, she sort of merged with me at some point and when I opened my eyes I was her."

"You are too mature for you own good," Regulus shook his head. "Way too mature."

"How does it relates?" Teddy asked curiously. "Maturity to transformation I mean."

"You have to accept the animal you are," Regulus said simply. "You will never transform if you have issues with yourself. Plus important part of transformation is learning the anatomy of your other self so you won't end with a stomach in your head and your brain in the gutter," he smirked. "Hermione used to help me with learning the anatomy of my fury self. Breed doesn't really matter when you are a dog. She knows a dog's anatomy so after she accepted her alter ego she allowed her to lead the way because … I dare to say that she knew that she would be able to transform back, just as she actually did."

"There isn't a chance that we would be as lucky with our transformation as she was?" Ron asked sceptically.

"Let's hear it," Regulus said eagerly.

"It had wings," Teddy admitted nervously. "Looked like a raven but I tripped when I wanted to take a better look at it."

"At least yours is hardly offending," Ron snorted. "Common sparrow."

"I prefer a sparrow above the pronged sign of being a peacock," Charlie snorted.

"You are a peacock?" Regulus couldn't resist a snort.

"Worse," Charlie muttered. "A stag. As I said pronged sign of being a peacock."

Regulus stared at the other boy and he mused over the irony. Mr Potter wouldn't be too happy if he knew how little value his Animagi form held to his son.

"It could be worse, you could be a slug," Regulus offered sympathetically, promising himself to pull Charlie aside later. "Neville?" he turned to his friend.

Neville blushed furiously as he muttered something about Regulus not being happy with him.

"Oh come on, Nev," Regulus sighed patiently. "It can't be that bad."

"It's not," Neville admitted. "It's surprising. I'm a…" he paused and after long moment of silence he whispered, "a wolf."

If Charlie's Animagi form surprised him then Neville's stunned him speechless. Wolf, the form he longed to have when he was younger. A symbol of protectiveness, pack. Calm and patient and fiercely overprotective. Yep, Neville was definitely a wolf in Regulus's book.

"That's great," Regulus smiled finally.

Later he couldn't believe it that he was this much of an idiot and of course it was his own fault.

After short talk with his Mum between her classes he learned that his Dad together with Mr Slugtruckar were away on a mission for the weekend and any plans concerning his Dad's visit should be postponed until the end of next week, also he shouldn't try to contact his father over the weekend unless his Dad would contact him first.

He revealed to his Mum Hermione's Animagi form, carefully and veiling the message so that to any passer by it sounded as if Hermione's parents simply got a dog. His Mum remembering his own antics and how set up he was on becoming an Animagus when he was younger laughed over Hermione's success together with him.

He said his goodbyes to her, passed hugs for Randa and the rest of the girls and decided to use the rest of the afternoon as a perfect excuse for snooping around the grounds due to incredibly shitty weather which kept students inside the castle.

What prompted him to go to the Forbidden Forest he didn't know. If he didn't go there then he wouldn't sniff out a rabbit and in his youthful stupidity he wouldn't chase after offending animal into a part of the forest which wasn't known to him.

On his previous visits, if he managed to get himself away from uncle Severus's watchful eye, he used to sneak to the forest but always remained no farther than fifty feet away from the edge of the forest unless it was a clearing in the forest where his uncle Severus's sometimes took him and Randa during the summer to harvest some ingredients and allowing two youthful canines to frolic in the tall grass of the clearing.

If he wasn't able to find the way to the castle on his own then he was doomed to spend the night there in the heavy rain and howling wind.

'Brilliant,' he snorted inwardly as he tried to sniff his own trail to the castle. 'Just brilliant cretin. I cannot wait for the scolding I'm going to get for being out of the castle after curfew from Mum, if I will survive McGonagall's wrath of course.'

Two hours, twenty puddles of mud, one narrow escape from an hive of wild bees and quite a handful bruises later he was nowhere near getting out of the forest than he was when he realised that he lost himself there.

The things that changed was that he was soaking wet, was shivering and his stomach was grumbling loudly.

'Wonder-fucking-ful,' he snorted to himself. 'Death omen dying out in the forest because of starvation and the common cold. Just brilliant.'

And just as he was bemoaning his situation he failed to spot particularly big puddle of mud in front of him and landed in it headfirst.

"Had enough?" asked a cheerful voice which seemed disturbingly familiar.

He blinked to clear the mud from his eyes and on his left, seated on a particularly large rock spotted familiar sight of very ruffled Brainslook who unlike Regulus didn't look like a sponge for mud and rain.

"Your nose is failing mate," Brainslook continued as he hopped down and slowly started approaching Regulus. "I have been sitting here for last ten minutes and you didn't sniff me out."

'I wonder how you would be sniffing if you had a nose full of mud,' Regulus sneered inwardly.

"It would be easier if you caved out and came back to yourself," Brainslook shook his head. "Dogs aren't animals native to forest laddie, especially dogs which look like a death omen, not a very impressive death omen on that."

Regulus barred his teeth and growled in warning. As long as Brainslook didn't force him to transform into his human form he was safe and so was his dad.

"Fine, have it your way," Brainslook shrugged. "Snuffles."

"Sod off," Regulus retorted which of course came off as a particularly offended growl.

Before he knew what happened he was tackled back into the puddle by something big and kind of blurry. Once again he ended with his head in the giant puddle and when he managed to get his head above it he found himself staring at his dad's animagi form.

Except his dad couldn't be here. He was on a mission and didn't know what kind of little cretin his son was and just a moment ago Brainslook was standing in his close vicinity and now the man was gone.

Suddenly the dog changed back into a human and Regulus found himself staring at Brainslook. Same clothes, same hair, a bit muddy but there was something completely wrong about him.

Regulus focused his attention on older man's face and cringed, there was something wrong with his eyes, blue in colour to colour-blind Regulus they should be pale but not as pale as they were. They strongly reminded Regulus about his dad's eyes.

In shock he shifted into his human form faster and without any gracefulness which he usually possessed. The colour of Brainslook's eyes hadn't changed. They were grey and not blue.

"About a hour ago, just a little bit after dinner I was cornered by five first year Gryffindors, terribly nervous about a certain little cretin called Regulus Black who was supposed to have a word with his mother before dinner," Brainslook said calmly. "Seeing that Minnie McGonagall was quite busy with punishing older brothers of one of them the kids had brought the issue to me. So after contacting aforementioned mother and learning that no her son hadn't come home with her I started getting worried. Together with her and Mr Lupin we searched the whole castle from the top tower to the lowest dungeon before your mother admitted that when you felt particularly adventurous you used to wonder around the edge of Forbidden Forest.

Brainslook paused to take a deep breath before he continued, "As you imagine that information worried me greatly because I know this forest a little better than you. Your mother and uncle went to check the clearing in the forest to which you used to go with your other uncle but considering the weather I chose to look for you on my own. This particular kind of rabbit you chased after is a kind which you can only see during rain and heavy one on that."

"How did you know that it was a rabbit?" Regulus mumbled.

"Because I landed here myself when I was a lad," Brainslook said simply. "It's called The Circle of Damned for a very good reason. The more desperate you are to get out of it the more you are unable to find your way outside. Once you stop caring about getting out it gets far more easier to leave it."

"I didn't know that," Regulus admitted as Brainslook pulled him out of the puddle.

The man lead him to the rock on which he previously was sitting, cleared Regulus out with few flicks of his wand before he wrapped his cloak around Regulus's shoulders.

"Neither did your ancestors," Brainslook snorted suddenly. "It seems that this particular kind of stupidity of chasing rabbits runs in the family. Your father had done it, just like his father had done before him and so did his father and father of that father. The rumour has it that getting out of The Circle of Damned is some initial test for every Black male heir though beats me what kind of a test: stupidity or lifelong aversion to rabbits."

"You landed there," Regulus pointed out.

"So I did," Brainslook shrugged. "We have to wait a while for the Circle to withdraw otherwise we won't get out of it until Christmas break. Our best solution is calmness and patience."

Regulus was able to recognise that even if Brainslook was speaking in a casual way there was a hint of nervousness in his voice. After a moment of silence the older man snorted waved his wand at the spot behind himself before he laid down on the rock with his legs dangling from the edge.

Not planning to die out of boredom Regulus picked quite long stick which was lying about a feet away from him and started drawing pictures on the muddy ground below his own dangling knees.

He was doing his drawings absentmindedly while he was still pondering on the mystery of Brainslook's changing eye colour so he didn't realise when he drawn man's surname on the ground. For a spare second he looked down and something struck him.

He quickly added man's name to his surname so he could see it clearly.

_Cirius Brainslook_

'_My mother was obsessed with sky… Couldn't decide between them so she settled on both_,' Brainslook's comment echoed in his mind.

Grey eyes… Concern… Knowledge about the Black family… The name which is spoken just the same way like his dad's… Could it be?

Quickly Regulus crossed out C from Brainslook's name, wrote the S which he crossed from the middle of the man's surname over which he wrote the C.

_Sirius Brainclook_

With the letters being in the same word it was easier for him to cross out his own surname from it.

_Sirius Black Rinoo_

Sirius Black Orion or rather Sirius Orion Black but that was his dad and Brainslook wasn't him.

_Orion Sirius Black _

Regulus dared not to breath to alarm the older man. It was impossible and yet it was so simple that it was a wonder why that thought hadn't occurred him before.

But if Brainslook really was Orion Black then how it was that his Dad got his and Regulus's letters back?

He had too many questions and too many possible answers so he smirked when another idea struck him.

"I used to send letters to my grandfather," Regulus said suddenly, keeping his tone calm and casual and not ever a hint eager.

"Hmm?" Brainslook mumbled.

"Dad's letters," Regulus continued. "Since I was seven. I was a very curious kid back then. Once I was rummaging through dad's drawers in his study and found a letter addressed to my grandfather. It wouldn't struck me as weird if my grandpa was alive but since he was dead… But then in my youthful eagerness I decided that if dad was writing to his dad and all of them were quite recent letters and by recent I mean letters which were dated after grandpa's death I decided that if dad was writing to him so grandpa had to be alive."

"Weird logic," Brainslook sighed.

"I know," Regulus continued simply. "So I sent a letter…" he paused and added eagerly, "and it didn't come back," he paused again but since the older man said nothing Regulus continued, "I was sending one of dad's letter each month hoping that finally grandpa will reply if he was alive. Just few months ago at the end of May I realised that I ran out of the letters. So I confessed to my sister and she suggested that we should write to grandpa and ask him if he got himself in trouble."

"Did he?" Brainslook asked curiously and Regulus couldn't help but admire the nerve of the man.

"I have no idea," Regulus shrugged. "Just the next day when we were celebrating my sister's birthday," he chose to call Randa's adoption day her birthday rather than having to explain the weirdness of it to the older man, "my dad pulled me aside and had given me a dressing down for being an idiot and sending the letters to a man I didn't know. After the scolding I learned that dad's owl was trained to carry to him any messages which were meant for his father … so all letters I sent simply came back to dad."

"He had to have the patience of a saint to scold you after four years of sending them out," Brainslook chuckled.

"He did," Regulus admitted. "But there is one thing which bothers me, sir," he added calmly. "We enclosed Kreacher's toffee to the letter and it didn't come back. Mum, dad and uncle Remus abhor toffee and Randa wouldn't eat it without sharing it with me."

"Did you have guests over your sister's birthday?" Brainslook asked simply.

"The owl came back in the morning, way before the party," Regulus said simply. Then he took a deep breath and turned himself so he could look at the man as he said innocently, "My point is sir… was it as mind-blowing as we claimed?"

Brainslook shot into sitting position which such speed that their heads collided and both yelped in pain.

"How did you?" the older man mumbled out.

"Cirius Brainslook? Seriously," Regulus smirked despite the pain. "Mum always said that the darkest spot is always under the lamp."

"Idiot," Brainslook sighed. "I knew that what worked for French didn't necessarily had to work for Brits," he paused as he rubbed his forehead before he added fondly, "or rather one specific Brit which happens to share the same blood. So what really gave me away and don't tell that it was toffee?"

"Everything I guess, little by little," Regulus said simply. "You tried to sound casual before but you couldn't keep back the concern from your voice or resisting the hunch to go to the place when you thought I would be. Add to that a disturbing death omen which looks like dad's animagi form and the sudden change of eye colour."

"Contact lenses," the older man sighed. "They change the colour from grey to blue but even after all these years I keep losing them every time I transform."

"Why you use them at all?" Regulus asked sceptically. "Is there any particular reason why you want to remain dead why you really aren't?"

"You read your dad's letters before you send them?" Orion asked calmly.

"So many times that I can quote them at you," Regulus shrugged. "Angst, angst, angst, guilt, some more angst, pride and yet another heap of angst."

"I was a shitty father, Regulus," Orion admitted. "I always knew that. That's why I lost Sirius and Regulus in the first place."

Regulus said nothing.

"I knew that Sirius was different from the rest of the family," Orion sighed. "It was evident by the time he had meet your mother though if I looked closely he was smarter than the generations of Blacks before him even by the age of five. More sensible, more logical, prone to having his opinions which were supported by logical arguments. Regulus was his exact opposite in that regard, quiet, subdued, but still smart enough to be studious but he lacked Sirius's bravery, Sirius's backbone to rebel against things he found absurd."

"Like blood purity?" Regulus asked pensively.

"Exactly," Orion admitted. "Knowing Mirzam helped him rebel against that absurdity. I knew that he was different and I knew what our family was doing to people… to people they considered inferior or different… There isn't a person who knew it better than I did Regulus…" he paused and after heavy sigh he continued, "So I pushed… and kept pushing until I knew that he was strong enough to take care of himself in the world full of hardship … and then I pushed him as far away as I could … so far that the thought to come back to the family would never enter his mind…"

Regulus chose to not comment that statement yet.

"In my mad desire to save Sirius from my own bitterness I pushed away Regulus," Orion said quietly. "I realised it too late to rescue him from Bellatrix's clutches. I had little authority over him and what was left… wasn't enough for him to respect my opinions… So one day in December I woke up in the morning and I realised that due to my own stupidity I lost everything which made me Orion Black. I was stuck in an arranged marriage with a woman I never loved and hardly cared for and the only reason why I remained with her were my sons… who were too far beyond my reach to repair all the damage I had done to them…"

The man paused and after a heavy sigh he whispered, "So I chose to disappear… then and there. I promised myself to start a new life elsewhere and to never return to the excuse of a man I once was. It was easier to fake my death that you can imagine, some old man from a hostel for poor people had agreed to take a Polyjuice potion with my hair. He was dying anyway… lung cancer, barely breathing and even Polyjuice couldn't save him from dying."

"You were really in France all this time?" Regulus asked sceptically.

"I had a friend who secured the History of Magic post for me at Beauxbatons because my predecessor was rumoured to wishing to retire and he wished so eagerly that he didn't mind retiring during the school year," Orion answered. "I wouldn't come back if it wasn't for Twinky."

"Twinky?" Regulus stared.

"Albus," Orion smirked. "Kept bothering me for a bloody month since the Weasley twins exorcised Binns. Come one Ori, you know that you cannot say no… you hate frutti di'mare anyway and can you really resist the urge to see how your son and his family are faring… Did you know that he named his son after his brother? He is such wonderful boy, so much like his father… You can say no to Albus only a few times… He knew that in the end I won't resist the urge to see you, all of you."

"He knew about you?" Regulus asked curiously. "Then why didn't he tell dad…"

"Because as powerful as he is he knows better than to challenge a Black," Orion said grimly. "I made him swear that under the pain of death he will never breath a word to your parents or you or your sister."

"Why?" Regulus said simply. "I thought that you cared…"

"I still care, Regulus," Orion said quickly. "I care enough to know that my reappearance will cause great grief to your family, especially your father and Merlin help me," he added fiercely, "hurting Sirius would be the last thing in my life which I wish to do. I hurt him too much already."

"You would hurt him more if you never tell him and he will figure it out after awhile and you will die for good," Regulus pointed out. "He got over his issues with you being a shitty father when he needed you the most. That bitterness which was there when he was a teenager is gone."

"Another reason to never tell him, Regulus," Orion sighed. "He got over it, there is no reason to open old wounds."

Stupid idiot and stubborn to the bone on that, Regulus thought with a snort.

"He got closer to Grandpa Archie over the years," Regulus said calmly. "But even I can see that it's not the same for him and once they get together all you can hear is Grandpa's stories about you. Plus Grandpa Archie is getting more advanced in years, ninety is not a trifling age even for a wizard and there are some things which Grandpa Archie would never understand."

"He never did," Orion said dully.

"Well he got over his blood-purity mania and completely adores mum," Regulus snickered. "He is still spurting homophobic comments though," he added after a second and smirked when a pained look passed through older man's face.

"He always did," Orion confirmed flatly.

"That colleague," Regulus said calmly. "Is a bit more than a good friend, isn't he?" he asked simply.

Orion frowned at that and looked at Regulus which made the boy consider sudden and rather painful death if he wouldn't explain himself quickly.

"But that's Grandpa Archie," Regulus shrugged as calmly as he could. "It never bothered Dad. He is even invited to his subordinate's bonding during Christmas break. Sometimes he even teases Grandpa Albie with setting him on blind dates…"

A curious look made its way on Orion's face and Regulus smirked just as he saw the clear path ahead of himself and the castle's lights in the far distance. Time for the Parthian's shot.

"I'm giving you a time to dad's birthday to come around if you don't I'm telling him and trust me then he will be pissed off like you have no idea," Regulus said cheekily.

Then he transformed into his Animagus form and disappeared in the woods before the older man could say anything.

* * *

**Awaiting criticism - like always. I'm replying as long as you leave me your email or you log in while reviewing. Bring my ego down ;)**

**Before next chapter I will also reply to earlier reviews because simply today I was too tired for doing it but I solemnly swear that I will answer to all reviews before next chapter.**


	10. Chapter 10: Consequences

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Harry Potter or anything what you can recognize from the books. I do however own the plot of this story but I don't have profits because of it unless you count improving my English as a profit.

Thanks to **omega13a** for beta-reading and helpful suggestions.

_Dedicated to all my wonderful Readers._

* * *

**Chapter ten: Consequences.**

**R. B.**

In the end Friday didn't turn out to be their luckiest day despite the success in having his friends see their Animagi forms.

Right after leaving his stupefied grandfather behind Regulus run into his Mum. At first she hugged him so hard that she knocked out what was left of the air in his lungs, then she cast diagnostic spell over him and after it was certain that he was suffering from nothing more than few bruises and slight chill she scolded like she never did before in her very, very disappointed voice.

"I expected something more mature out of you, Regulus Sirius Black," she said stiffly as she was marching with him to the castle.

The use of his full name meant that if it was anyone else in his place then his Mum would be spurting venom.

"I got lost, Mum!" Regulus whined.

"You should know better than going so far in the forest on your own," his Mum continued in her stiff and disappointed tone.

"I didn't go so far," Regulus protested. "I was chasing a rabbit and landed myself in the Circle of the Damned."

"The Circle of the Damned?" his Mum said sceptically. "How long it took you to come with that idea?"

"I didn't," Regulus whined. "Ask Professor Brainslook, he called that spot the Circle of the Damned. I simply got lost and couldn't get out."

"You shouldn't get lost in the first place," his Mum huffed. "Hadn't your father and I told you and your sister more than a hundred times that there are reasons why this forest is forbidden for students?"

"You did," Regulus said simply.

"Then you won't protest when you will have to write five hundred line of '_The_ _Forbidden Forest is forbidden for a reason and I will think thrice before I will enter it again without an adult by my side'_, will you?" his Mum said stiffly.

"Five hundred?" Regulus moaned. "But Mum…" he started but wasn't able to finish.

"Do you want one thousand?" his Mum said. "Five hundred lines by Tuesday morning before my classes start, early bedtime for a week and I will make sure to ask Severus to have his patrols around Gryffindor tower during that week. Additionally tomorrow after breakfast you are going to serve a detention with him and don't expect anything easy to do."

Regulus wisely chose to not comment on his punishment, sometimes having a Professor for a parent really sucked.

**_Dormant Life_**

After being given a Pepper Up potion and Bruise salve, having his nose smeared with menthol ointment which made his eyes water he was unceremoniously walked to Gryffindor Tower by his Mum, who to his utmost horror didn't stop in front of the portrait but walked him upstairs and tucked him into his bed under Neville's and Teddy's watchful eyes.

As he fell asleep he wondered what kind of a talk Charlie and Ron would get because he hadn't spotted them in the common room. They weren't in the dormitory or the bathroom which door was open wide enough for Regulus to realise that it was empty. Frankly he found himself not caring, anyone who crossed Mum deserved every single word they got.

**_Dormant Life_**

He woke up warm, dry, rested and with a clear nose just to have Teddy landing on the top of him while the other boy tried to put his shoes on.

"Glad that you decided to join us," Teddy said grimly. "Your Mum caught Ron, Hermione and Charlie out of their beds after curfew. They came back even later than you did. Apparently Malfoy teased Charlie about getting the Nimbus 2000 and challenged him into a duel in the Trophy Room."

"And knowing Malfoy he didn't show up," Regulus grimaced.

"That's what I heard," Teddy confirmed.

"They got a detention?" Regulus asked against his best hopes that his Mum's bad mood didn't make her lash it out on his friends.

"Detention?" Teddy snorted. "She was ballistic by the time they get there, I mean ballistic in your Mum's standards. I snuck out of the bed when she barked at them to sit down."

"Ouch," Regulus mumbled.

"Ouch indeed," Teddy muttered. "Luckily for us Gryffindor didn't lost any points. But unluckily for them the three of them have an early bedtime for a week. Additionally each of them was punished in awfully personal way. Ron is banned from having a desert for a week, Charlie is banned from Quidditch trainings, Hermione is banned from doing any reading which isn't class related. To add insult to injury each of them have to write five hundred lines by Tuesday morning. The only difference is that are varying. Charlie has to write '_I won't be sneaking out of bed after curfew to duel against a Slytherin because I shouldn't believe that a bloody coward like Draco Malfoy will ever show up for a duel which isn't approved by __the__ Headmaster and at least two Heads of the houses and I won't allow anyone who thinks otherwise control my own actions_'. That was a reference to Ron, because it was his idea to accept the duel."

"And Ron got?" Regulus grimaced.

"He has to copy down Cadogan's Duelling Rules for Underage Wizards and explain why each of them still remains in use. Four feet of that and if it won't meet your mother's acceptance he will have to write it again and she will make him discuss the Salazar's Code of Honourable Duelling too," Teddy said grimly.

Regulus grimaced even more. Cadogan's Duelling Rules for Underage Wizards alone was quite a handful to write about by Tuesday but if Ron was coped with Salazar's Code of Honourable Duelling while having to rewrite the first essay then the boy wouldn't get out of the pile of paperwork until Halloween.

"Hermione?" Regulus asked nervously.

"Next time when I will see a pair of imbeciles sneaking out of the common room after curfew without a very good reason to do so I will stun them first and ask questions later. Under no obligation I will follow them like an overeager Hufflepuff and a dull one on that," Teddy recited.

Regulus groaned at that. Hermione would be pissed and he dreaded to go downstairs. But he had too, he had a detention right after breakfast.

Quickly he dressed up and walked down to the common room where his friends were seated around the fireplace on couches and armchairs. The rest of the common room was miraculously empty.

"Morning, Reggie," Hermione muttered.

"Morning," Regulus sighed. "What happened?"

"Mr Honour and Able, that's what happened," Hermione huffed as she threw Ron and Charlie and very dirty look. "After you harred away Merlin only knows where a broom was delivered to Charlie. Malfoy, being an envious git managed to attract the attention of Professor Flitwick and after Flitwick had left challenged Charlie into a duel."

"At midnight," Charlie deadpanned. "Failed to show up. Hermione caught us sneaking out but was unable to return by the time she decided that if we want to get a detention for being out after curfew then so be it but she isn't going to participate in that."

"Instead of Malfoy we nearly run into Filch," Ron added grimly. "So we changed our minds and decided to come back to the tower, very, very fast but on our way we encountered Peeves who chased us to third floor, you know the forbidden one. The git made an alarm which brought Filch."

"So we hid in the nearest classroom," Charlie continued. "It was locked up but Hermione opened it… Filch had left … and then we learned why the corridor is forbidden and the classroom is locked up…" he looked nervously at Hermione after that.

"They're keep a freaking Cerberus there!" Hermione huffed in indignation. "And not the Greek kind which your Grandfather was showing to us. A nesting dragon looks more friendlier compared to those three heads with teeth which can bite off your head in one snap…"

"You mean that there is a difference between that three-headed dog and other three-headed dogs?" Ron asked nervously, he looked kind of green.

"Greek Cerberus' are usually less than six feet tall," Hermione muttered. "Five footers are considered very tall for that breed, though four footers are more common. This one was gigantic, it had to be seven feet at least."

"You saw Fluffy?" Regulus finally managed to express his shock.

"Fluffy?" Ron yelped. "That giant head-remover has a name? Fluffy on that?" Ron gaped at Regulus in shock.

"It's Hagrid's," Regulus shrugged. "Dad nearly had a heart attack when Hagrid showed him Fluffy for the first time. He promised Hagrid that if that dog would ever put his paw in the castle then dad will haul both Hagrid and the dog to Azkaban. And trust me dad doesn't make this kind of threats easily."

"Should we call him?" Charlie suggested nervously.

Regulus shook his head. Hagrid knew better than going against Regulus's dad threats and knew which one of them he should take seriously. That particular threat was deadly serious and Hagrid knew that. But Fluffy was in the castle which meant that it was Grandpa Albie who had to allow Hagrid to bring the Cerberus inside the castle. The question was: why?

"Was there anything curious about that room?" Regulus asked pensively.

"You mean that there was something more curious than three heads of the death?" Ron huffed as he rolled his eyes.

"The trapdoor," Hermione said suddenly. "It was standing on a trapdoor."

"Why?" Ron snorted.

"Isn't it obvious?" Hermione snorted. "That infernal dog is guarding something."

"Treasure?" Ron asked hopefully.

"Knowing Grandpa Albie?" Regulus snorted. "Even more deadly surprises. Trust me no treasure is worth dying in Cerberus's jaws."

"It might be no treasure at all," Hermione muttered.

"What you mean?" Charlie asked curiously.

"I just remembered reading something…" Hermione started. "But for the life of me I can't remember what it was…" the she glared at Charlie and Ron, "and thanks to you the earliest day when I will be able to sort it out will be next Saturday. Unless one of you is able to carry out more than month's worth edition of Daily Prophet out of the library."

"Err no, thank you Hermione, we are patient people and we can wait," Ron said nervously.

**_Dormant Life_**

After breakfast he went to Uncle Severus' office without a shadow of a doubt that his dressing down had ended yesterday after his Mum was done with them. No, Uncle Severus was Regulus's self-proclaimed godfather and was taking his godfatherly duties very, very seriously.

As soon as the door to his Uncle's office had closed behind him he heard a hiss.

"Regulus Sirius Black!"

"I know Uncle Sev," Regulus said calmly. "I'm a foolish Gryffindor who rushed out into Forbidden Forest without thinking. You are very disappointed with me, so is Mum, Uncle Remus and Professor Brainslook. Dad would be disappointed too if he knew what kind of a stunt I pulled out. I should also consider myself lucky that Professor Brainslook had found me and that I have such great friends who went to him to tell an adult about my disappearance…" he said on one breath, knowing that sooner or later Uncle Sev would point it out.

He looked up at Uncle Severus who looked like a cauldron ready to explode. The older man was practically oozing with fury. Regulus took a shaky breath, lowered his head, let his shoulders hunch, allowed his knees to shake a bit before he raised his eyes at Uncle Severus with a look of defenceless and kicked puppy.

He spotted a shadow of triumphant smile immediately followed by uneasiness and right after that by guilt and Regulus allowed himself to inwardly smirk in satisfaction, Uncle Severus was sooo easy to manipulate.

"At least you regret your actions," Uncle Sev said with definite uneasiness in his voice. "That's something which cannot be said about some of your peers."

"I do, Uncle Severus," Regulus said meekly. "I'm truly sorry about scaring you, Mum and Uncle Remus so much."

And he really was. He was sorry but if he was sincere with himself he didn't regret getting lost, discovering that he was right about Grandpa Orion, in its own twisted way was something. Yet again seeing that his parents and Uncles cared and were worried for him made him all warm and fuzzy inside and he knew that no matter how old he would be the knowledge that there was someone who cared for him just because he was Regulus would make him feel better.

"I will get going, this cauldrons need good scrubbing," Regulus added guiltily.

He turned on his heel and started walking in the direction of Uncle Severus's classroom when he heard calm and heavy with guilt voice.

"You are too old for scrubbing few cauldrons to be any serious punishment. You will assist me in preparing Pepper Up potion for Madam Pomfrey."

Scored! Regulus thought with satisfaction.

**M. B.**

When Severus flooed to 12 Grimmauld Place after dinner she didn't know if she wanted to hug the life out of her son or whack him across the head with rolled up newspaper.

Severus being Severus described Reggie's punishment in every little detail, added descriptions of Regulus's expressions and general posture. Poor Sev didn't know that Regulus could get quite manipulative when he wanted and he manipulated Sev into making his detention go his way rather than Sev's.

Severus stayed long enough to put Randa, Minnie and Alana to bed with a story of Little Red Riding Hood at exceptionally early (for the girls anyway) bedtime of nine o'clock in the evening. Verma Slugrtuckar and her children, whose names even after a two weeks were giving Mirzam creeps along with very unsettling feeling that something was going inside her house and she didn't know what it was, stayed out of their way and from what she managed to overhear weren't as easy to put to bed like the girls were.

Not so long after Severus came back to Hogwarts after declining politely the leftovers from dinner and Mirzam couldn't really blame him, especially after Minnie's sudden proclamation that Mrs Slugtruckar couldn't cook to save her life and that her vegetable pastries were simply horrid (come to think about it they weren't that bad if you dipped them in garlic sauce like Mirzam did). Thankfully Minnie made her statement away from Mrs Slugtruckar's earshot and Mirzam didn't have to explain her…

When she was sincere with herself she was very aware that she found the presence of other woman extremely unnerving. It wasn't about her being able to have children on her own with her husband. No, a long time ago Mirzam resigned herself to the fact that she will never get pregnant because of her condition. Of course she could get pregnant if she really wanted but she never wished to inflict her condition on any child, let alone a child she would carry under her heart for nine months or so. Pregnancy in her case was definitely out of the question, which didn't mean that at times she could get minimally envious about women who could have children on their own without risking the life and/or health of their newborn child.

Verma Slugtruckar was unnerving her in completely different way. It was her calm demeanour and sort of pained look directed at her every single bloody time Mirzam happened to catch the other woman staring at her. It seemed as if the other woman was taunting her or … was envious.

At the same time she couldn't deny that sharing the same house and, even worse, kitchen with another woman brought to her mind long buried wishes of having her sister alive and well. If only Mira was here they would be able to laugh together from Mrs Slugtruckar's pained looks and her inability to deal with the overexcitement of her children.

She was so lost in her thoughts and memories of Miranda that it took a pillow slamming into her face which alerted her that she wasn't alone in Sirius's study.

"Excuse…" she started stiffly as she took a quick look around the room and found a smirking Bathsheba staring at her. "Sheba! When did you come?"

"Just a moment ago, Mimi," Sheba snickered. "I called out your name but you didn't react. How are you today, sis?"

"Don't ask questions," Mirzam sighed. "We are having guests who are getting on my nerves, Sirius is away on a mission, Regulus got lost in Forbidden Forest and thankfully is alive and in one piece, but what I survived last night before I found him…" she shook her head. "The darker side of having children," she added grimly. "Wine?" she offered as she stood up.

"Thank you but no," Sheba declined. "Pour yourself anyway but if you have cherry soda I will be very grateful," she added as she sat down in the armchair opposite to Mirzam's.

Mirzam poured two glasses of cherry soda and handed one to Sheba before she reassumed her former seat.

"How are things faring in the Ministry, Sheba?" Mirzam asked curiously.

"Did you hear about the arson of Albus Slugtruckar's house?" Sheba asked quickly.

"Yes," Mirzam grimaced before she added quickly, "Quite directly actually. My dearest mutt couldn't help but offer the Slugs a shelter. To make things worse, he hauled Mr Slug on a mission and left me with his wife and their hellish duo here."

"She is that much unnerving?" Sheba snorted. "Man, she has to be horrid to get on your nerves from all people."

"She isn't that bad," Mirzam snorted. "I just find her unnerving. Her and her pitting looks when she thinks I'm not looking. Beats me why she does it, but she does and that's it."

"And you just cannot wait to find her asking about Monday evening," Sheba grimaced.

"Actually the only thing she will be asking will be why the girls will be going to Grandpa Archie for the night and why Remus and I need to be at Hogwarts on the same night," Mirzam muttered.

"Sirius is planning to come back by then?" Sheba asked curiously.

"I hope so but if he does my expectations would be exceeded," Mirzam shook her head. "Come tomorrow evening I will be having very a whinny Reggie over Sev's floo asking me if I could wave off his early bedtime for that night. Frankly I'm inclined to agree."

"Feeling like shit, aren't you?" Sheba snorted.

"Ask me Tuesday morning," Mirzam snorted and immediately groaned, "I shouldn't tell them to have those lines handed on Tuesday. There is no way that I will be able to teach any classes that day, especially if Sirius won't be back."

"At least you can keep down the food you eat," Sheba grimaced. "That's something which I cannot say."

"Stomach bug?" Mirzam asked sympathetically.

"More of a parasite," Sheba said darkly. "A very vicious and picky parasite. No matter what I ate last week I couldn't keep it."

Mirzam frowned, she wasn't a qualified Healer but to her knowledge there hardly existed a parasite which could be so picky. Unless…

"Who is the lucky guy?" Mirzam asked pensively.

"Not so lucky," Sheba grimaced. "He doesn't know it yet. Even I managed to learn it just today because I decided that vomiting everything I would eat for another week would be no fun."

"How far?" Mirzam asked curiously.

"Thirteenth week," Sheba said grimly. "I have three weeks to decide."

"That bad?" Mirzam asked with a sigh. "Is he married with children or something?"

"You could say so," Sheba snorted. "It was just sex, we used charms and potions. I think that the potion was the same as yours. Conception-less so you better check yourself my dear."

"Fat chance," Mirzam snorted. "I look like death warmed up because I'm a werewolf before the full moon, not because I'm pregnant. I happen to keep my meals in my stomach and I'm prone to headaches, not light headiness. Last time I ended worshiping the porcelain god was two years ago when my dearest decided to prepare burritos."

"Were they any good?" Sheba asked eagerly.

"If they were good the whole family wouldn't come down with food poisoning you know," Mirzam grimaced. "Back to the point. How bad is your fuckmate for you to consider an abortion as a possible option?"

"I'm not considering an abortion," Sheba huffed.

"You said that you have three weeks to decide," Mirzam shrugged calmly. "Last time I checked abortions are performed legally if it was performed before the end of the seventeenth week though no sane Healer would dare to perform it after sixteenth week of pregnancy."

"You are obsessive," Sheba snorted. "I wasn't referring to the idea of abortion when I mentioned that I have three weeks to decide."

"So what's in three weeks?" Mirzam asked patiently, feeling a lot more calmer when she heard that her best friend wasn't considering idea of the abortion.

"The renewal of my tenure," Sheba answered simply. "By the 14th of October I need to know whenever or not I will have to take maternity leave. If I will end as a single mother on maternity leave longer than the standard three months is out of the question."

"Last time I checked two people were involved in the process of the making of a child," Mirzam pointed out. "Daddy is unfit?"

"Rather scared of any sign of commitment," Sheba snorted softly. "Mortally scared and I'm not even sure if I should inform him, Mimi. I mean, I know that I have to because he has the right to know but…" she shook her head.

"You have to tell him, sooner rather than later," Mirzam sighed. "Maybe he will surprise you and will change his mind."

"It's as likely as seeing Robert Halloway in clean robes," Sheba muttered. "Will never happen. Guess what he spilled on them this time?" she smirked.

**R. B.**

He got a detention in History of Magic of all things. Because he had failed to prepare an essay about Grindelwald. He bit back the retort about when he was supposed to prepare it since his Uncle Severus had decided that for being out after curfew on Monday evening, to join his Mum and Uncle Remus for the full moon for Merlin's sake and decided that spending Tuesday and Wednesday evenings in the dungeons would be suitable punishment.

So when finally Thursday's History lesson had arrived Regulus failed to hand over the essay he had yet to write and he was rewarded with a detention scheduled for the evening.

"It's not bloody fair and you know it," Regulus growled after he closed the door to his Grandpa Orion's office. "First I get a detention with Uncle Sev for being out after curfew on full moon night, while he knows very well why I'm out of the common room. Then you award me with a detention…"

"For the essay you failed to hand in," Grandpa Orion said calmly.

"You couldn't assign me yet another essay?" Regulus muttered darkly as he settled himself in front of his Grandpa.

"At this rate you would end up under a pile of essays you won't finish writing," Grandpa Orion smirked. "Take it easy lad. I gave you a detention so you would be able to finish it under my nose."

"Many had tried and yet everyone failed," Regulus smirked. "Don't forget that I grew up at Hogwarts. Once Professor What's His Face…" he paused to try to recall the name, "Patterson, retired Auror decided that I wouldn't bother him during his lessons if I was faced with an assignment concerning Unforgivables. From what I remember he tried to scare me out of the classroom."

"You wrote the essay about Unforgivables at the age of what?" Grandpa Orion mumbled out.

"Five," Regulus supplied. "It was Autumn of the same year when Grandmother had died and we weren't living at Grimmauld yet, for obvious reasons. I liked to sit during some of the lectures with older students when Uncle Moony was away on some errand."

"You wrote the essay about Unforgivables at the age of five?" Grandpa Orion whispered in shock.

"My point is that I didn't," Regulus smirked. "I wrote down the title of the assignment, with a pencil I should add because at that age I was still unable to hold a quill properly without spilling the ink around every surface, before I snorted something like, 'You've got to be kidding me, sir!'"

"You didn't," Grandpa Orion mumbled.

"I did," Regulus chuckled. "Then I dished him out the history of each Unforgivable Curse. In the end I managed to conclude that much worse than Imperious Curse and easier to cast are Love and Lust Charms, not to mention their higher efficiency. Then I said that I would prefer the physical pain of receiving the curse which makes you feel like you got as many paper cuts as you have nerve endings in your body rather than a curse which actually makes you bled from all nerve-endings you happen to have. In the end I claimed that Killing Curse is merciful death compared to the Curse of the Enflamed Bones."

"What Patterson do after you said that?" Grandpa Orion asked curiously.

"Dismissed whole class, summoned my Mum, my Dad, Grandpa Albie and Ruffled Scrimy claiming that my parents are bringing up the next Dark Lord instead of a normal child," Regulus snickered. "I think that Dad, Grandpa Albie and Mr Scrimgeour explained to him that if having knowledge of the Dark Arts makes the Dark Lord then half of the wizarding population in United Kingdom would be rotting in Azkaban, with Aurors in the top security cells. Besides all of them happen to agree with me that Unforgivables are Unforgivables but there are really worse things than Unforgivables."

"And let me guess, that was the last time you graced DADA class before this year?" Grandpa Orion asked swiftly.

"Actually no," Regulus shook his head. "Three years ago in charge of that particular post was Melvin Prewett, dad's trainer, who after having a word with my Mum first, decided to poke fun of second years who didn't know how to cast Disarming Spell and Shield Charm, from what I remember both belonged to first year curriculum in that time. So Melvin goes and says, 'listen up you bunch of lazy brats, this is Regulus Black, age eight and he will help me in a test.'"

"What did he have you do?" Grandpa Orion asked curiously.

"First we will test your shields, Blackie over here will cast a Disarming Spell on each of you. Your job is to produce a shield to repel it. For each shield which fails your house will have one point removed. The other test is casting the Disarming Spell on Blackie while the only thing he can do is produce a Shield Charm, you have three tries on him, for each successful try you get one point, for each failing you lose one point."

"And the result was?"

"It was circa the end of the first week so from what I remember Gryffindor and Hufflepuff had about forty points and Slytherin and Ravenclaw had thirty-six points each. The class consisted from forty people because Melvin wanted them to train on me together during a double lesson. Out of whole forty, only ten managed to disarm me, on the third try which gives plus five points to both Gryffindor and Slytherin, which really didn't help because after global failure of Protego each house was ten points down, add to that twenty point from Slytherin and Gryffindor… Well in the end all houses were in a negative point count which ended really funny because Melvin had an argument with all the heads of the houses. He was really nasty in taking points. I believe that the winner of the House Cup, Slytherin, barely managed to scrap about one hundred eighty points give or take a point or two and by Leaving Feast Hufflepuff had a total zero of points because some idiotic third years tried to hex Melvin for taking Hufflepuff twenty points during the last lesson of the term, which was still quite impressive because they were tying with Slytherin before that lesson and after losing these twenty points they were barely a point ahead of Gryffindor which was in last place."

"So they got pissed off and lost more points."

"But the best happened on the day of the Leaving Feast," Regulus continued with a smirk. "Something chased Melvin out of the castle, screaming bloody murder on that, what it was no one knew but from what my Mum said Uncle Severus and Madam Sprout had very peculiar expressions on their faces while Melvin was running away."

"About Grindelwald…" Grandpa Orion started.

Regulus smirked, Grindelwald was no problem when you were getting History lessons about Grindelwald from Grandpa Albie…

**_Dormant Life_**

"So?" said Ron quietly just as they were finishing their lunch and together with Ron another four pairs of eyes turned to look at Regulus. "Will you ask her?"

Regulus sighed heavily. They eagerness was so obvious that they would be deeply disappointed if his Dad failed to show up today. But then again he didn't know a person who wouldn't be eager to become an Animagus.

He smiled at them, finished his pumpkin juice and approached his Mum.

"Mum," Regulus asked meekly. "Did dad…"

"Came back yesterday evening, Reggie," his Mum smiled at him. "When I was leaving home he was still sleeping but yesterday he said something about showing up here as soon as I come back home."

"What about the Slugs?" Regulus asked curiously.

"Grand opening in Mrs Slug's gallery, Slug is a bit ruffled and limping but he is going to show his support to his wife and since Moony is out for the weekend someone has to stay at home with the girls and the little Slugs," his Mum answered.

"And the man, they caught him?"

"The man yes, just not his bastard son with whom the man was in league. It's still a problem because while the son isn't the brightest bulb in the box he is still dangerous."

"Does the early…" Regulus started.

"Today," his Mum said sternly. "Tomorrow you can go to bed later but other restrictions still apply till Sunday."

_Dormant Life_

During last month Regulus observed Ron's older brothers and his observation proved to him that when the mischief was likely then Fred and George were likely suspects of said mischief which also meant that they were unable to resist seeing a mischief taking place under their very noses.

That meant that having all five boys plus Hermione leaving the common room in one group would very likely pick up the curiosity of the Marauders Wannabes.

So in a manner worth the only son of Padfoot Regulus first dispatched Hermione with Neville to his Uncle Severus, then Charlie and Ron to his Grandpa Orion, mouthed to Teddy to wait for him outside the common room before he made a show from going upstairs to his dorm, loud enough for the twins to hear it.

He came back just a moment later under Charlie's Invisibility Cloak which the other boy had left on Regulus's bed and with accuracy and skill of Uncle Moony cast simple stinking spell on the twins.

Using the commotion which erupted right after the twins started to stink as a smoke screen Regulus quickly left the tower, wrapped the cloak around Teddy and together they went down to his Mum's office where the other kids were waiting for them.

As soon as they walked inside the office, after Regulus had given the password to the door they found his Dad inside it already.

"Hey Dad!" Regulus grinned. "How are you?"

"Fine Reggie," his Dad smiled. "How are you kiddo? I heard that you got yourself in trouble."

"They all did," Teddy smirked. "Except Neville and I."

"It was an accident," Regulus muttered grimly.

"Aunt Mimi went ballistic," Teddy snickered. "Gave Reggie the walk of shame through the castle, common room and up to our dormitory. Then she waited for the rest of the miscreants who were out of the common room after curfew."

"One day you will get in trouble," Ron muttered. "And we will be standing by your side laughing our arses off."

"Fat chance," Teddy snickered. "So, uncle Sirry, our lesson."

"Reggie had given you Animus Potion?" his Dad asked quickly and after quick nods from the other kids he continued, "Great. Anyone saw something other than fog?"

"We all did," Neville said nervously.

"And?" his Dad prompted quickly.

"Common sparrow," Ron grumbled. "Impressive as hell."

Regulus saw a smirk appearing on his Dad's face but dad said nothing.

"Raven or something that look like one," Teddy supplied.

"Wolf," Neville said timidly.

"Stag. I will end looking like complete cretin," Charlie snorted.

"Instead of saying what I'm can I simply show you, Mr Black?" Hermione asked swiftly and without any ceremonies she changed in her Animagi form.

Regulus snickered inwardly at the stupefied look on his father's face.

"Well that was unexpected," his Dad whispered. "Though not really surprising."

"Can we become an Animagus as fast as Hermione did?" Ron asked curiously. "She transformed right after Regulus had given us the potion."

"Immediately?" his Dad asked alarmed.

"No, after the vision," Regulus explained. "For a moment I was scared shitless that she got stuck but she simply transformed back right away."

"Well, I'm not surprised that Hermione was the first one to transform," his Dad said pensively. "And no, Ron, you won't master Animagi transformation as fast as Hermione did, no one does. Hermione is unique case because things which will be discussing during our lessons which for the rest of you will be new for Hermione would be just a reminder and while you will be concentrating on transforming she will be simply perfecting her transformation," he added softly. "Hermione transformed this fast because she had practically the whole course of mastering Animagi transformation taught at the age of nine, while Reggie was mastering his own. The only difference was that unlike Reggie, Hermione wasn't given the potion back then and since she was helping Reggie in learning as much as possible about his form it was easier for her to transform. After all a dog is a dog, bred can change, important parts, don't."

"So how long it will take us, Mr Black?" Ron asked.

"That depends," his Dad said with a shrug. "Mastering Animagi as I think Regulus already explained to you is hard, really hard and if you study on your own, mostly by trial and error you spend years at mastering your form without screwing something. That's why mastering Animagi isn't very encouraged these days. If my memory serves me right the last Headmaster of Hogwarts who in fact supported the idea of having students master Animagi transformation was Phineas Nigellus Black, better known as the least popular Headmaster of Hogwarts, for the same reason actually."

"He was unpopular because he supported having master their Animagi forms?" Charlie asked sceptically. "Why is that?"

"It happened before Professor Dumbledore was a student," his Dad said pensively. "Phineas was the Headmaster of Hogwarts since 1897 to his death in 1925, twenty-eight years, not the longest tenure a Hogwarts Headmaster ever had but a long one. He was great scientists in the field of Transfiguration and administrative genius but never had much heart for his students. But that was later, early in his tenure Phineas was very devoted to those students who had chosen to pursue further education in his field."

"And since mastering Animagi transformation was itself quite an achievement…" Teddy supplied.

"For the first three years of his tenure out of the seventy-five students who had chosen to try to master Animagi transformation under his and Dippet's tutelage they managed to sort out fifty who were able to do so. The incident to which I'm referring happened in late December. Some cretin who was rejected tried to transform on his own and got trapped in his form," his Dad said with a snort. "Getting trapped is horrible thing to happen or to watch. Every Animagus was trapped in their form at least once while learning to master the transformation. The worst thing which one can do is panic."

"And the idiot panicked," Neville whispered.

"And since he was a bull…" his Dad grimaced. "He trampled over one first year girl so badly that she died due to the severity of her wounds, Phineas was crushed, figuratively not literally. He would have killed the idiot if he wasn't stopped by the other teachers. For each Headmaster or Headmistress death of a student is huge blow. The death of an innocent child and one who just recently started learning magic… He remained the Headmaster for a quarter of century after that but that incident had weighed on his tenure greatly, as well as on the way how he saw and treated students."

"It's so sad," Neville said quietly. "And they never tried to teach Animagi transformation after that?"

"Yes and no," his dad said grimly. "Animagi transformation was taught, in lesser scale and only to handpicked students or, more specifically, adults. Which leads us to another subject of our talk," he added pensively. "The laws concerning Animagi Registry."

"Only seven people were registered in Animagi Registry in this century," Hermione supplied quickly, earning few startled gasps because of her sudden transformation back into human form. "And I didn't find you there Mr Black," she added grimly.

"Animagi Registry, the one which is in the Improper Use of Magic Office isn't worth a Knut in my honest opinion," his Dad snorted simply. "Though it's very good reference list for the Aurors. This registry records what kind of animal one is and one's distinguishing markings. That itself defeats the purpose of becoming an Animagus which is having a secret ability which might or might not save your life or at least health some day."

"Then why does it still exists?" Hermione asked sceptically.

"Because it has to exist Hermione," his Dad shrugged. "Being unregistered Animagus is punished with a decade in Azkaban prison for a reason, call it a safeguard, add to it a fine and people will think thrice about becoming an Animagus and failing to register. But the law concerning Animagi Register has a lope-hole. Animagi Register in the IUMO is a smokescreen, public display for the masses and on that list you can find the names of Transfiguration Masters or dragon handlers."

"There is another list?" Teddy asked eagerly.

"There is," Regulus smirked. "Aurors' Registry of Uncommon Abilities."

"The beauty of that register lies in its secrecy, both concerning its existence as well as people who figure in it. It wasn't destined for public display and only a few people can actually read through the whole registry without suffering dire consequences. To get registered in that registry you don't necessary have to be an Auror, though that was the original purpose of that registry, all you need is someone who is an Auror to register your name on it and aside from you that Auror has access to your file, as well as other files which he or she registered," his Dad added. "Only authorized personnel has access to that list since if the DMLE is planing some kind of operation where a rare ability might be needed, they would check the list. You only get called up when you're a needed. What I'm trying to say is you can register your form for free and keep it off the public record but if the ministry needs you, you have no choice but to do what ever it is they want you for."

"Say I committed a crime as an Animagus and it was discovered…" Charlie started.

"If you figure in one of these registry your arse is safe, however if you aren't on any, well, prepare for getting higher sentence," Regulus's dad said simply. "And if you are caught as an Animagus who doesn't figure on IUOM's list all you need is the name of the Auror who registered you and your registration number."

"That means that we have to register," Ron said. "But from what I heard it costs a lot of money…"

"IUOM's register does," Regulus's Dad smirked. "ARUA is free of any charges in that regard, also the reason why people who need that particular ability prefer to figure in ARUA rather than the IUOM's register."

"So Animagi Registry has only seven people on the list, at least from this century," Neville said pensively. "How many has ARUA?"

"In this century?" Regulus's Dad asked pensively. "Forty-two registered Animagi. That's not much if you add the thirty people who registered in last century and happen to still be alive."

"That's still quite a lot," Charlie muttered. "It registers the same way as the Animagi Register does?"

"It has more details," Regulus's Dad said pointedly. "I had to get catalogued from head to toe and in the end I was even dubbed as a weird cross between a Flat-coated Retriever and a Newfoundland because I was too big for the first and too thin for the second."

"And Reggie is in this registry, isn't he?" Ron asked curiously.

"Since day after my first transformation," Regulus snorted. "The Unspeakable in front of whom I had to transform for dubbed me as a cute little Flat-coated Retriever and the most adorable puppy she ever saw and since she was around when dad registered himself in ARUA and she had to describe him in the registry she kept cooing how much like dad I look like."

"Well you do," Neville snickered. "Is there anything else which we need to know about laws concerning the transformation, Mr Black?" he asked after a moment.

"Federick's Law concerning registering Animagi forms, more as a reminder and warning than something actually useful," Regulus's Dad shrugged. "Or rather better known as the Deadlines' Law for Animagi. Students who mastered Animagi transformations while still at school don't need to register as soon as possible but the deadline for them is registering within the year of graduating from Hogwarts. For adults the deadline is within a month of their first transformation."

"How did you get registered?" Charlie asked curiously.

"Right after graduating from Auror training," Regulus's Dad said simply. "I had to register myself then because for me it was the deadline and I wanted to have a grant so I would be an Auror before I registered myself. It was a necessity, not all people had it."

"You mean that you know other Animagi?" Charlie asked.

"James was an Animagus, unregistered one," Regulus's Dad said pensively. "At least he thought so and never suspected that I put him on ARUA register as soon as I learned who would be able to have access to those documents."

"James?" Charlie asked in shock. "You aren't talking about my father, are you?"

"Yes, I'm talking about James Potter," Regulus's dad said sourly.

"He never…" Charlie started.

"James became an Animagus for one single purpose and his form didn't allow him to overuse it, especially very often. By the time you grew up I doubt that James had any reason or desire to transform. Being an Animagus was in the part of his life which he left behind, one which had left him behind," his Dad said grimly.

"What he was?" Charlie asked eagerly.

"A stag," Regulus's dad said simply.

"Stag?" Charlie whispered in definitely disappointed voice. "That's hardly useful."

"I'm not going to say that Animagi form is genetic," Regulus's dad chuckled. "It certainly acts this way at times though. A lot depends from the character of a person and as you know character can be shaped in many ways. Often a manifestation of Animagi form, before Animus Potion was taken that's it, is the form of your Patronus."

"Magical guardian," Regulus said. "The animal manifestation of the person you turn to in the moment of greatest despair."

"Exactly," his Dad nodded. "James's Patronus was a doe, like Lily's was a stag. You really don't need to feel ashamed about being a stag, besides someone has to be dubbed Bambi," he smirked.

"The one who calls me Bambi will die a very painful death," Charlie snorted.

"Pity, you look like that doe-eyed epitome of innocence," Regulus's dad snickered.

"You stepped on dangerous path, Charlie," Regulus snickered. "You made dad think about nicknames and nicknames happen to be his pet peeves. He nicknamed my mother, Uncles Remus and Severus and Aunt Bathsheba, dubbed Professor McGonagall with 'Mewling Minnie' and for ages he has been looking for an appropriate nickname for me and Randa. Until these days fails to do so."

"Only because you flat out refused being named Shadow and nearly hexed me to Easter break that time when I suggested Padfootlet and Padlet you refused to speak to me for three days," his Dad snickered.

"He is a Flat-coated Retriever, isn't he?" Hermione asked innocently.

"Your point being, Goldilocks?" Regulus sneered.

"Why Padfootlet?" Charlie asked curiously.

"From Padfoot," Regulus's Dad said simply.

"Padfoot was a payback from Uncle Moony," Regulus said with a definite smirk, his Dad was about to receive a shame of century, or at least of a decade. "Young Animagi, and by that I mean young in human age use to have typical markings for young animals. Since dad mastered Animagi transformation at the age of sixteen he was still a bit puppy-like, a big puppy at that. Being almost completely black there was one thing he was incredibly ashamed of, it was the pink pads on the bottom of his paws. Naturally with age they turned black but not before Uncle Moony dubbed him with an affectionate nickname, Padfoot the Pink Paw Power…"

"Wait you little, flea ridden fur-ball!" Regulus's Dad yowled before he transformed and lunged at Regulus who had just enough time to duck to his right and transform in the middle of his fall.

Soon enough the sound of squeals filled the room, especially after Hermione decided to join the chase, probably as a payback for being called Goldilocks and in the end Regulus was flatted down by two dogs.

"Well, Hermione was right," Neville snickered at the sight. "You are a Flat-coat and you are definitely flat, Flatcoat my friend."

Regulus made mental note to plot a very shameful revenge on Neville as soon as the other boy would master his Animagi form.

The lesson ended quite well with Regulus's Dad giving the other boys a homework assignment in meditation to have a clearer view of their animagi forms so they would be able to study them better.

And since the lesson put the other boys in a good mood they didn't pay too much attention to having Regulus and Hermione falling behind them.

"Flatcoat," Hermione snorted.

"Goldilocks," Regulus retorted. "Or do you prefer Cuddles?"

"Flatcoat or Padfootlet, your choice."

"Browniepoints."

"I'm not getting a nickname which has anything in common with a member of Pink Nailed Trio of Doom!"

"Aww."

"That's not a nickname."

"Chocolate?"

"Stuff yourself with one, Flatcoat."

"You are being too kind, Goldilocks."

"Arsehole."

"I might be one but at least I don't act like an offended cat."

"Bite me."

"Really?"

"In your dreams."

"If I would give you a bone you would cease that pointless banter?" Teddy called out. "Flatcoat and Goldilocks sitting in a… yeow."

Well, after hexing Teddy they ceased bantering, that should make the other boy happy.

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**Awaiting criticism - like always. I'm replying as long as you leave me your email or you log in while reviewing. Bring my ego down ;)**

_Next chapter will move the calendar ahead... for about a month. It's a very weird chapter actually, it's personal and yet it isn't. I had written bigger part of it back in April around the time I posted chapter seven and now I'm mostly brushing it up because second part of that chapter displeases me. It will be a changing point for adults, naturally it will also touch children but on lesser scale... That's actually the reason why this and last chapter are happy, theoretically carefree and supposedly funny (in certain places I hope)._

_Animagi. I'm quite open to suggestions for nicknames and thank you very much I'm not naming Charlie Bambi nor I'm naming Reggie Padfootlet. Considering the speed of transformation I'm mostly looking for nicknames for Reggie, Hermione, Charlie and Neville (he might not seem to appear as someone overly determined to master Animagi quickly but that will change and fast on that). Ron and Teddy will master their transformation more slowly than the others because someone has to be faster and therefore someone has to be slower. _


	11. Chapter 11: The World Around Us

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Harry Potter or anything what you can recognize from the books. I do however own the plot of this story but I don't have profits because of it unless you count improving my English as a profit.

Thanks to **omega13a** for beta-reading and helpful suggestions.

_Dedicated to all my wonderful Readers._

_This chapter is incredibly personal and at the same time it isn't. It's something which had waited to get out of my system since April. It's imperfect and I know it. But the again reality in ideal world never seems perfect. I done it for few reasons: in some way to honor people who had lost their lives in a tragic accident on 10th April in Smolensk, I might not agreed with the most of them for the most of the time but I bear in mind that they weren't just politicians, they were people like the rest of us, people who lost their lives in tragic accident and a loss of life should always be honored because it's the last thing we can do for them. This is my small tribute to their memory as imperfect as it is I wrote it from the bottom of my heart._

_There are other reasons, plot concerned. Harry, meaning Regulus, needs to start growing out of his worry free childhood for the sake of becoming the man who can defeat Voldemort without having to many people noticing that he wasn't dead. For that he needs to stop being a child and acting like a grown man and therefore making big man's decisions. He needs to find within himself the power which Voldemort has not. Another plot concerned reason is: actually how many times you can read the same scenario? I need to make changes in the story to not bore you to death and to sum up whole Philosopher's Stone in two chapters, even though the change in the plot line is drastic I don't think that I would get past twenty chapters for year one and even if I did it would be only a chapter or two, three tops (and yes I'm stretching the possibilities)._

_Besides I had an ulterior motive (and I'm not mentioning it yet). _

_

* * *

_

**Chapter eleven: The World Around Us.**

**S. B.**

It was Thursday, 31st October. Like at any average Thursday Mirzam only had only one double Ancient Runes with the third years.

He had stayed at home, together with Moony, Randa, Alana and Minnie, he was supposed to dispatch them through the Floo Network just in time for History of Magic and get ready to go to work.

He had drunk his coffee, yelled at Moony for losing Codex of the Honourable Auror, tried to maintain some order with three nine years old girls on a sugar high (either because they had eaten pancakes with maple syrup for breakfast or because of Halloween itself) and five minutes to half past ten after sending the girls to Hogwarts he was ready to leave

Since the Ministry of Magic wasn't too far away and he was supposed to start work at eleven o'clock he chose to get there by foot.

Upon reaching the street which lead to the guest entrance of the Ministry he realised that something was wrong, very wrong.

The street was too crowded for this time of the day and too many people in the crowd wore cloaks. He managed to spot Dora talking animatedly with Shack, behind her were other Auror trainees who were supposed to visit Auror Headquarters today and he frowned.

"Mr Black," someone called his name through the crowd. "Commissioner Black!" the voice started getting closer and closer and in few seconds he saw Dawlish making his way through the crowd.

"Johnny!" he called back. "What's going on here?"

"We don't know, sir," Dawlish answered quickly as he stopped in front of Sirius. "All that we know is that all entrances to the Ministry of Magic are blocked. We can't get in and we don't know what's happening with people inside. It's a disaster, sir."

Sirius took a deep breath as he scratched his beard before he said, "Tell the trainees to arrange our people on the street by the departments and the offices in them. They will also gather information from those people about who from their office or department should be inside the building. In the meantime take Tau division to place very strong deception spells on the buildings on the street, I don't want any Muggles looking through the windows; make Sigma division close the street. Whoever is from Kappa division is here, contact St Mungo's, discretely that they should prepare for arrival of people who possibly will be injured. I want all of Omega division, which at this hour is not on duty inside the Ministry, right in front of the guest entrance. Tau, after finishing with their duties will join them. Other divisions help the trainees to collect the information, contact their heads or deputy heads if they are here."

"Yes, sir!" Dawlish saluted and hurried away, barking the orders on the way.

Omega division immediately gathered by the guest entrance to the Ministry of Magic, Sirius watched from the corner of his eye when he was trying to activate the guest lift by typing the standard password. Thrice the answer to the password was a dull silence and no movement at all.

"Andromeda Team to me!" he yelled without turning around as he started typing emergency password. "We go in fours. Next group which is going downstairs presses redial. The last person from Andromeda comes back upstairs to call down, or not Aurora and the others if the need arises!"

In the meantime he was typing the numbers 46326437.

He, Shack, Dawlish and Proudfoot squeezed into the lift before it started lowering.

Something was wrong, very wrong, the descent was far too slow for the emergency lift and far too loud for him to like it. Suddenly when the lift hit something with a dull thud just as the windows started showing the floor in Atrium and all four of them lost their footing.

He hit his head against the glass and cursed loudly as he closed his eyes but immediately after opening them any curses he knew had died on his lips.

The atrium was in ruins, the way to the lifts was covered with stones and the remains of glass. He looked up at the topmost levels… The level one and two seemed non-existent. Half of the level three had collapsed onto level four. The level five lacked windows and he could see bodies hanging from the gaping holes in the once beautiful building.

"Dawlish, examine the damage of the structure of atrium. Proudfoot, move the stones under the lift out of the way. Shack, you are going with me," Sirius whispered. "Johnny, you will find someone from Andromeda who will tell Aurora to start the search from level eight upwards, Tau will take levels nine and ten. Under no circumstances don't use the main lifts, we don't know the extent of the damage there."

"Sir, others have arrived," Dawlish announced.

"Carpenter!" Sirius barked. "Immediately go upstairs. You will be descending in sixes. Andromeda, Aurora, Tau and Sigma. Kappa takes over the order upstairs and inform St Mungo's immediately that they will probably receive many injured, send for Healers for those that are to injured to be moved. Sigma will go from level eight upwards, all of Omega will go from level one downstairs. Tau searches levels nine and ten. On your way you are taking downstairs any injured, we will collect the dead in a second sweep. Additionally find some Ministry official and tell him to deal with the press. NOW!"

"What's going to happen now?" whispered meekly one of the secretaries in DMLE offices, how he got there while the Aurors were passing Sirius didn't know.

All that he saw was quite a big group of non-Aurors looking at him expectantly.

"We will ensure that the living will continue to live," Sirius said. "We will pay proper respect to the dead, ensure that they will be buried with all the honours they deserve, that their families will be taken care of."

"That's people," said one person from the crowd. "What about the Ministry of Magic, how we are supposed to function, where, with whom in our lead?"

"I trust that employees of Department of Magical Law Enforcement will be able to work out proper personnel arrangements, Mr Fellony," Sirius said loudly. "I'm more educated in criminal laws rather than constitutional ones so I cannot answer immediately that question. As for where I suggest Hogwarts, from what I know the Ministry of Magic was invited to use the part of the classrooms which aren't in use as temporary offices for as long as required. The most important papers were already transported there with guards placed by them. Additionally those bodies which St Mungo's wasn't able to admit today to their morgue were transported to the catacombs located under Hogwarts's graveyard.

"For now it's essential for Department of Magical Law Enforcement officials, those who had remained, to get to Hogwarts, consult the codexes, others educated in the area of constitutional law, like retired members of DMLE, Professor Dumbledore or any person who knows constitutional law. In the meantime, Aurors, using the list of Ministry of Magic's employees which at the time of the tragedy were inside the Ministry Headquarters as well as our own knowledge, together with the help of pathologists from St Mungo to prepare complete list of deceased, injured, missing people.

"What I'm planning to do might seem against the law but allow me to inform you that the actions which I'm going to take now aren't born from ill will or wanting to be noble… No, I understand that together with the deaths of Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge; Madam Amelia Bones, the Head of Department of Magical Law Enforcement; Rufus Scrimgeour, Head of the Auror Office it is my duty to ensure that the investigation of this tragedy is lead properly and that no statues are breached. And it's very likely that they are dead considering the damage to the building itself. Therefore, after stationing Aurors around the site I will go to talk with the Muggle Prime Minister about the need to close this street and the adjoining streets by Aurors in disguise of Muggle police," Sirius explained carefully. "Please proceed to your other duties."

"What about informing the nation about the scale of this tragedy?" asked one of the Ministry officials, one of DMLE employees.

"I think that families should be informed first. If some of you are willing to help us in passing this tragic news to the families you know that their families should be inside the building, of course after making sure that they are indeed dead or injured, you are truly welcomed. After informing immediate family DMLE should appoint a spokesperson who would remain in contact with the newspapers and wires," Sirius said sombrely.

Most of the people started clearing away, some were arranging into groups, especially around the young Aurors. They were talking animatedly, most probably settling the details of informing the families.

"Sirius," Kingsley said quietly. "Emergency bridge?"

"There is no other way, Shack," Sirius shook his head sadly. "Do the honours."

Shack pressed the correct combination of bricks with his wand and spiralling stairs had emerged from the wall and from the ceiling had emerged a bridge to the emergency exit on level one.

They were hurrying along the bridge as if chased by a herd of dragons. Sirius was the first one to reach the emergency exit from level one and upon opening them he had to resist the urge to throw up.

Bodies, or more accurately remains of many bodies were sprawled around the floor next to emergency exit, the ceiling of The Minister of Magic's office was half collapsed on the floor.

He took a deep, shaky breath, scolded himself for delaying his work and started making his way through the wreckage, checking for survivors. They weren't any.

He entered The Minister's Office on weak legs while through his mind had passed many hurried thoughts. Okay he didn't like Fudge and in his opinion Fudge was an idiot and a puppet but Fudge was also a human being and he didn't wish him dead. Just getting kicked out from his office.

In The Minister's Office were only two bodies. One was Umbridge's, the only death which didn't make him feel like mourning and the other of Fudge himself. His lime green bowler hat was laying on the floor next to him as Fudge's unseeing eyes were starring at the ceiling, the look upon Fudge's face had showed the last feeling which the man had experienced was of utter horror and the finality of approaching death.

Unaware of what he was doing he knelt on one knee next to Fudge's body and diligently, slowly and carefully he closed older man's eyes, then collected his bowler hat and placed it on Fudge's chest to hide the gaping hole in his stomach.

"Shack," Sirius said quietly.

"Mockingbird, sir," corrected quickly a very shaky voice.

"Mockingbird," Sirius corrected himself. "Once Omega crosses the bridge, take last of them with you and bring the Minister's body to the atrium, with all his due respect, please. I will search the rest of the floor with the others."

The way downstairs was even harder. No one from Omega (and there were about fifty of them) hadn't found a person that was still alive on level one.

The descent downstairs to level two had filled all of them with dread. After all Omega was the only division that was stationed in Ministry Headquarters and between the dead there will be many of their co-workers, friends and colleagues.

He paid quiet respect to the bodies of Amelia Bones and the people who were in her office when ever what happened had occurred.

They still hadn't found any survivors on their way.

Suddenly through the air had passed shriek, "Mr Black! Mr Black!"

He followed the shriek as fast as he could without tripping at the bodies of his friends and colleagues on his way and fell into Scrimgeour's office breathing heavily.

"Sirius!" he heard soft whisper. "Sirius…"

"Rufus," he choked out as he jolted forward, falling to his knees in front of his one time mentor and long time colleague. "Ruffy, don't you dare to think about leaving us…" he begged.

"Take … care … of … our … peop…" Scrimgeour whispered, choking out the word but he didn't have a chance to finish his thought because his eyes had rolled out in their sockets.

Sirius could practically feel Scrimgeour's soul leaving his body and passing between his inferiors.

He closed his own eyes, trying desperately to hold back the tears which started slowly gathering there. When he opened his eyes again, a lone tear slipped down his face as he brought his right hand to gently close Scrimgeour's eyes.

"Kingsley, Johnny," he whispered. "Be gentle. Emilianus, Horace," he added without turning around Proudfoot's and Savage's names, "take care of Madam Bones, you will find her body in her office."

"Yes, sir," the four of them saluted.

With a heavy heart he made his way to the corridor where the rest of his inferiors had gathered. One look at their sombre faces and eyes full of tears which simply weren't spilled yet was enough. There were no survivors on level two either.

Descending down to level two brought the feeling of his stomach filled with lead as he passed between the bodies of members of the Muggle Worthy Excuses Comittete, the Invisibility Task Force, the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad, and the Oblivators.

There were no survivors here either.

At least on level four there were survivors, though heavily injured, ten out of around fifty which worked on that floor. With extreme care Sirius sent them away, in assistance of Aurors, after his Aurors gave them first aid.

Upon reaching the stairs level five he had ran into Hawthorn, the head of Division Sigma.

"Sir!" Hawthorn saluted upon seeing him.

"Auror Hawthorn," Sirius nodded slowly. "Report, please."

"About two hundred and ten injured sir. Ten in critical conditions, might not survive the transportation to St Mungo's."

"And levels nine and ten?" Sirius asked quietly.

"I counted with those levels, sir," Hawthorn explained. "Tau is helping ours."

"Once you are done with moving the victims, please start removing the dead from the building. Remember to use stairs only. I'd hate to lose more Aurors in this tragedy than those who were already on duty in the Ministry today," Sirius said slowly. "Omega will do the same thing from level four up."

"Robertson from Tau reported to me that St Mungo's already arrived. The first healers left with the first group of injured, about twenty of them, the most heavy injured who we found during our search. There is a group of lightly injured, especially on levels seven, nine and ten. Those are either helping us or are arranging the bodies of the dead to be transported…"

"Contact Headmaster Dumbledore about it, Hawthorn," Sirius said quietly. "Hogwarts has catacombs near the graveyard, they are empty now, St Mungo's won't be able to admit so many bodies. I'd hate to leave their bodies here because that construction might collapse any minute now."

"Should Tau secure the papers, sir?" Hawthorn asked quietly.

"As soon as we will move the bodies from the building. At level nine should be enough special trunks for that. Once they are filled and locked send them to Hogwarts and tell Professor Dumbledore to find someone to mind them until a Ministry official will come to relieve them, preferably someone trustworthy, the most trustworthy," Sirius nodded.

"And you, sir?" Hawthorn asked meekly.

"I will help Omega and will help Kappa and the trainees. They are probably going frantic by now but as long as we have healers travelling back and forth I won't go upstairs," Sirius shook his head.

Emptying level four of bodies was incredibly painful duty, not painful physically but emotionally.

For about two hours Aurors were coming and leaving the offices in company of the dead, they were aided by those of the survivors whose injures allowed them to help in moving the bodies into more respectable places.

Despite his earlier promises Sirius had remained with the Aurors who had secured all the files from all of the departments.

Just as the last trunk was closed and carried by two Aurors in the direction of the lifts by which Sirius was waiting the ceiling of the atrium had cracked dangerously.

He had hissed impatiently at the Aurors and quickly run to them to help them carry the trunk to the lift.

They stepped inside and had pressed return button just as the first lone stone from Atrium's ceiling had fallen down, quickly followed by the others, soon the remaining levels of the Ministry Headquarters started collapsing one on another and then all had collapsed onto the Atrium's floor just as Atrium's light went out and the three of them had found themselves in a dark tunnel.

The phone-box emerged from the ground and the light of the day had hit his eyes so hard that he had to close them.

The door had opened and they emerged from the phone-box, first the Aurors and he as the last.

His eyes had meet the eyes of so many others and he shook his head sadly. There were no words in which he could describe the horror of what he had seen under the ground and he had lived through a war with Voldemort as an Auror and that was saying something.

After instructing the Aurors to stand immediate around the entrances to the Ministry of Magic, he had hurried without wasting time to 10 Downing Street.

Luckily for him he yet had to break the habit of leaving his Invisibility Cloak in the pocket of his uniform cloak so hidden under the cloak he had Apparated through the emergency ward placed around the 10 Downing Street, more particularly Prime Minister's office, luckily for him empty, sans the man himself who was sipping his tea between turning the pages of the memo he was reading.

It was greatly uncomfortable occurrence, of course he had met the Prime Minister, on occasions, two or three when Aurors had failed to capture a serious criminal, dangerous not only to wizards but to Muggles as well and since Fudge hated to pass bad news that unpleasant duty had fallen either Scrimgeour or Sirius and Scrimgeour both. However never before he had eye to eye conversation with the Prime Minister.

He cleared his throat softly and with a grim satisfaction watched how man's eyes immediately landed at the portrait of frog like man with silver wig in the far corner of the room.

"It wasn't me, Prime Minister," the portrait coughed. "But it seems to me that you are in company of a wizard or witch."

"Err, hello?" Prime Minister mumbled nervously.

Sirius quickly threw the hood of his cloak from his face as he turned to face the man while he shed the rest of his cloak.

"Prime Minister," he said quietly. "I'm terribly sorry for interrupting in your work."

"Can wait," the man said unsurely. "Not every day I get such surprising visits from members of your kin Mr…"

"Black," Sirius said quickly. "Sirius Black, Deputy Commissioner in the Auror Office, County of Great Magical London. To explain it on visuals someone akin to the Assistant Commissioner of the City of the London Police."

"Ah, we had meet before, Commissioner Scrimgeour introduced you during the search of Morgan the murderer," the man said with slowly appearing smile. "You appeared to be terribly tired back then."

Sirius tried to stop the blush which crept upon his face, trust the man to remember him at his worst, "I'm terribly sorry for that, several sleepless nights of the chase, coupled with quite a heavy blow to the head didn't make me the most gentleman companion around."

"I don't feel insulted Commissioner Black, I understand that we aren't always at our best. How your superior is faring?" the man asked curiously.

"I would love to say, very well Prime Minister," Sirius sighed. "However citizens of wizard world were …"

He didn't have a chance to finish because there was a telephone ring and the man had to answer that.

"I'm terribly sorry Commissioner Black, but Commissioner Owen Kelly is asking for a meeting," Prime Minister had said as he put the telephone away.

"Oh, really," Sirius sighed. "Actually I was planning to talk with him too since the reason of my sudden visit also falls into the area of his duties."

They waited a moment before the man himself walked into the office. Upon spotting Sirius his eyes opened wide and he mumbled, "Please, Commissioner, not another criminal."

"I'm afraid that there will be one if my inferiors will learn that he or she had survived, Commissioner Kelly," Sirius sighed grimly.

"And you are asking for what exactly, Commissioner Black?" the older man sighed.

"Evacuating London's citizens from the area around Leicester Square and Covent Garden tube stations and I will be really pertinacious about it, Commissioner Kelly," Sirius said sternly.

"You are a mad man," Commissioner Kelly breathed out.

"That would be the one who at half past ten o'clock this morning had walked into the atrium of British Ministry of Magic and fifteen minutes later had blew up whole building, effectively killing Minister of Magic and his entire office, all Aurors which at this hour were stationed inside the Headquarters on duty, including the Head of Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Head of Auror Office, Commissioner Scrimgeour, whom I believe you had the pleasure to meet, Commissioner Kelly, as well as many, many others. Which at the moment leaves me as the highest person in command of what is left of the Ministry of Magic until our constitutional lawyers appoint someone more suitable than an Auror. Insofar I know about four hundred thirty dead, two hundred and ten injured, twenty missing and Merlin only knows how many people who had been there when this terrible tragedy occurred," Sirius explained stiffly. "To put it on visuals of your citizens imagine that whole house of Parliament was blown up, together with 10 Downing Street and Buckingham Palace while the Queen and her family were inside, all at the same time during the work day when Parliament is in session. That's how the tragedy which meet us looks to wizarding citizens. So, Commissioner Kelly, will I get your blessing to protect your people while I investigate the deaths of my people?"

The man sighed but nevertheless he gave Sirius curd nod as he shook his head and added, "Help me if you ever get promoted higher than the Auror Office…"

"Don't worry, Commissioner Kelly," Sirius said grimly. "If I get promoted I will ensure that my successor will be only twice as persistent as I happen to be."

"Should I walk you to the door?" Prime Minister asked suddenly.

"Better not, Prime Minister," Sirius gave the man small smile. "I'm afraid that it won't give you good press if you did. I will simply leave the same way I got here."

"How many people have access to that way of transportation, to this place?" asked Commissioner Kelly grimly.

"At the moment?" Sirius scratched his beard. "Only me. Before the attack there would be the Minister of Magic, my direct superior, Commissioner Scrimgeour and me. Additionally if we felt that it was necessary for the safety of the Prime Minister one of my Aurors whose duty was to protect the Prime Minister in case of magical attacks, but since until now were no inclinations of such attack at the moment I'm the only one person able to get here through the wards. Speaking about bodyguards, I will feel much more better if one or two of my Aurors for next few weeks were members of your crew, Prime Minister."

"If you feel that it is necessary," Prime Minister said nervously.

"It's your death which is unnecessary, Prime Minister," Sirius stressed out.

"What about the Queen and Royal family, Commissioner Black?" Commissioner Kelly asked quickly. "Do you protect them as well?"

"We do," Sirius nodded shortly. "Had been doing it for ages actually, Commissioner Kelly. Now you have to pardon me gentlemen but I have to go back to my work. A lot of things have been done but even more needs to be done."

He threw his invisibility cloak around his shoulders and wrapped it around his body before he pulled on the hood of the cloak.

"Our army would appreciate a device like this one," sighed Commissioner Kelly.

"It's a part of the standard equipment for Aurors, Commissioner Kelly. But don't worry. Your scientists perhaps in a decade or two would be able to create an invisibility cloak without the use of magic," Sirius said before he nodded as he added, "Prime Minister, Commissioner Kelly, I wish you good day."

He Apparated immediately to the area of the site, located Shack and Dawlish, and beckoned them to come to him.

"Sirius," Shack sighed.

"We have Kelly's blessing," Sirius sighed. "Anyone had come with some good excuses?"

"Leak in the gas main. We are evacuating them out of the fear of the street blowing up. Muggle Worthy Excuses will take them to some hotel on the outskirts of London. Also prevent any contact with the muggle press. Their memories of the day will be modified upon arrival to truly believe in the leak, Shack you will brainwash the gas company. We need to reopen the streets, at least partly to bring the buses to them."

"You are searching for any signs of magic in the area, ensuring the safety of the houses, and be quick about it. As soon as the Muggles leave have the experts check the structural integrity of the streets and later of the Ministry. If there is anything which can be repaired, do so, especially the Ministry's ceiling," Sirius ordered. "The last thing we want is for this area to collapse into the Ministry."

"And you?" Dawlish asked.

"I will go to St Mungo's after quickly consulting with those who will be informing the families. I will help them as much as I can, then pay a visit to Hogwarts. You can reach me by two-way mirror at any time."

His discussion with Thomson about first going over the list of killed, grievously injured, injured in lesser extent, as well as missing from either list had lead to two trips, one to St Mungo's and another to Hogwarts's catacombs and both of them were incredibly sombre.

Four hundred forty people in total were killed, another ten were grievously injured, two hundred were injured in lesser extent. The attack had occurred when most offices were filled with most of their staff. Those who happened to be at the end of the street outside the Ministry were people from the late morning and afternoon shifts who arrived earlier because some of the Departments scheduled big meetings around noon, usually closer to eleven o'clock than noon.

From all the Aurors Divisions in United Kingdom, Division Omega had suffered the most terrible losses, out of one hundred and sixty Aurors in Omega Division as whole around a hundred were killed in the attack, a few were fighting for their lives in St Mungo. The rest of the division had remained at the site of the attack together with Divisions Tau and Kappa who were scheduled to have a meeting today at noon with Scrimgeour and Sirius about, oh irony, the safety of the most important public buildings in the area of their Magical Counties.

It was his sad duty to inform Charlotte Fudge, Rosalyn Scrimgeour and the Bones family about the attack which killed their husbands and sister. To his greatest discomfort upon Apparating to the gates of the Fudges residence, after being let in by Mrs Fudge into the sitting room he had spotted Rosalyn Scrimgeour and Arianna Bones, Madam Bones's sister-in-law seated at the couch with cups of tea in their hands.

"Mrs Fudge… Mrs Scrimgeour, Mrs Bones…" he whispered.

"Mr Black…" Mrs Fudge said straightforwardly, she was far more straightforward than her husband ever could be. "Did something happen?"

"I'm afraid …" he started and stopped immediately as he tried to swallow the bile which suddenly appeared in his throat. "I'm terribly sorry to inform you that Minister Fudge, Commissioner Scrimgeour and Madam Bones were …" he paused to quickly take a breath as he said those words, "killed in a dreadful accident which happened at the Ministry of Magic Headquarters today…"

"How many others… Sirius," Mrs Scrimgeour whispered.

"Four hundred and forty," Sirius whispered. "Ten might die in a matter of hours. Twenty are still missing. Two hundred were injured to a lesser extent."

"Omega?" Mrs Scrimgeour said quietly.

"From those who were inside when the attack occurred only ten had lived, their conditions are critical. Others are clearing the site and are examining the damage in the structure of the buildings around the Ministry. They are being aided by those from other divisions who were supposed to meet with us at noon…" Sirius explained quietly.

"Did they suffer, Sirius?" Mrs Fudge asked. "Greatly?"

"I…" Sirius started and chocked on the bile in his throat. "I saw Minister's body upon entering his office… he looked … looked like he felt, knew that he will die in a moment."

"Amelia?" Mrs Bones whispered.

"Extensive damage from the collapse of the first floor, was crushed by the stones, one of the heavy ones hit her on the head…" Sirius shook his head sadly.

"And…" Mrs Scrimgeour started.

"Was alive when we found him…" Sirius whispered, feeling tears welling behind his eyes. "Extensive damage in the central region… he was bleeding heavily but he was still clinging to life only to die in my arms as he passed his last order to … to take care of our people…"

A glass of cognac was pressed into his hand and he gulped it immediately.

"The Ministry itself?" Mrs Fudge asked quietly.

"In ruins, Mrs Fudge," Sirius rasped out as the cognac burnt in his throat. "We placed enchantments but they lasted as long as one of ours was below the ground. I was one of the last who left the atrium after ensuring that all people, alive or dead were removed from the scene, items were dispatched to Hogwarts which is the only big enough building which came to my mind when we decided on evacuating everything which we were able to move fearing the collapse which occurred as soon as we stepped out of the atrium."

"How many people are informing the other families?" Mrs Scrimgeour asked, her voice sounded strangely brisk in current circumstances, but that was Mrs Scrimgeour…

"About two hundred and fifty last time I checked, mostly from the Departments other than DMLE because DMLE is at Hogwarts and is trying to find a solution in our statues for current situation," Sirius explained quietly.

"You will be heading to Hogwarts, won't you?" Mrs Fudge asked quietly.

"I need to learn to whom we are answering to before I will go back to the site of the accident to help the rest of Omega, Tau and Kappa to keep the order around the street and trying to restore the remains of the building for at least enough to gather the evidence of what happened…" Sirius said slowly.

"Then we won't be keeping your from your job, my dear boy," Mrs Fudge said quickly. "Arianna, my dear, would you help me at St Mungo's? Rosalyn, my dear I know that you will be at the Ministry… and I have a feeling that in a moment you will run into your wife, dear Mirzam, who will come to the Ministry too."

The quick trip to Hogwarts had left him with no answer to his question. He was only reassured that they were still looking, though he got a reassurance that until they will find the proper clauses and solutions he was the one in charge.

Going to Hogwarts, via 12 Grimmauld Place to tell Moony to keep the girls at home, had resulted in coming back to London with Mirzam in tow, just like Mrs Fudge predicted and frankly it was Mirzam's quiet idea to use quite an unusual method of gathering the evidence from the accident.

In a matter of minutes a quiet communication method was arranged with Gringotts's goblins who eagerly offered their help, for a price but Sirius hardly cared, help was help and goblins enchantments were his best chance to gather the evidence.

It was established that forty goblins gathered in the atrium will use their enchantments to recreate the original building from before the attack and that the Aurors, those skilled in casting Echoing Enchantment, a very complex spell requiring a lot of concentration and determination, to be cast on each floor to find the identity of the attacker and the way which the Ministry was destroyed and killed the people inside it.

To Sirius's silent displeasure, silent because Echoing Enchantment was a really very complex spell, out of nearly the two hundred Aurors from all divisions gathered at the site only forty Aurors knew of the Enchantment and only thirty were able to cast it, twenty-four were able to do it properly, including him.

In the meantime Mirzam, together with Mrs Scrimgeour and several Aurors were assisting the goblins in recovering the bodies of people who at the moment of the attack had been trapped in the lifts.

Sirius, with two other Aurors who able to cast the Echoing Enchantment were on level one since the most damaged levels were the upper ones.

Echoing Enchantment after Echoing Enchantment they had managed to learn the identity of the terrorist; the half-blood son of a Death Eater and Muggle-born whom the former had raped; Malcolm Simkin-Yaxley.

After comparing their results Sirius was more or less able to recreate the whole picture from before the accident and what happened when it occurred.

Yaxley entered the building easily, through the guest entrance, somehow. Sirius didn't have idea how the man learned to do it and more importantly from whom Yaxley had blocked the guests' lift to remain in the atrium.

The man had slipped past the guard, offering his wand with ease to the man, but not the backpack which he was carrying. Then he had taken the lift straight to level one where for about four minutes give or take two or three seconds (with a watch in hand for Sirius) he had talked with Florence Nightingale, Fudge's private secretary responsible for appointing the meetings with the other people, trying to persuade her to let him inside.

His backpack during his talk with Florence had remained on the floor by her desk and right at the moment the man started leaving the corridor without his backpack Sirius knew what was going to happen…

While more stable than most Muggle buildings, the Ministry of Magic Headquarters wasn't indestructible… if his reasoning was accurate the amount of explosive material which was in the backpack would be able to blow up one of the London's districts, the material itself was an erumpent horns, very concentrated.

Florence was practically wiped out of existence when the bomb blew up. The force of the explossion knocked the door out of the hinges, one of the chair legs in Fudge's office which was located right behind Florence's desk had went through the man's stomach, killing him immediately. Umbridge was less lucky than Fudge and had received a blow into an artery, she had bleed to death in a matter of two minutes.

Yaxley himself had died in the attack, not wanting to wait for the lifts he had left through the stairs and when the bomb went off he was halfway through the stairs between level two and three.

People on level two stood no chance at all, Scrimgeour lived as long as he did only because the impact of falling first floor had knocked him in the direction of the fireplace so when the rest of the ceiling in his office had fallen he was huddled inside the empty fireplace. Unfortunately Scrimgeour had left his spot too early and he was knocked down by a lose suit of armour from upstairs, that brought him to his knees and the desk from the office upstairs had did the rest. He received a heavy blow to his stomach which caused internal bleeding and in the end had killed him.

The lower he went the less gory the damage was but since even in wizarding world gravity is a law; level one collapsing upon level two and then level two collapsing onto level three which collapsed only in half way to level four the whole structure of the building was greatly weakened, enough for the whole building to finally collapse when the enchantments placed by the Aurors had stopped working. Protective magic around the Ministry while it couldn't stop the explosion from happening it prevented the building from collapsing completely.

Some of the goblins who had come to help them while Sirius was busy were working together with the remaining Aurors to ensure the stability and preventing the potential collapse of the buildings above ground.

Sirius also managed to establish that some of the goblins' enchantments will remain in place even when everybody would leave, along with prepared to be conjured columns which will be holding the ceiling to prevent it from collapsing. Unfortunately only the shape of the cave was deemed as the least dangerous place for any person in close vicinity, something which couldn't be said about the floors of the headquarters. Yes indeed, the goblins' enchantments had worked but they wouldn't be able to hold the structure for too long.

The wall on which the offices' windows were coming to the atrium was secured by another wall, as soon as everybody who was supposed to leave this part of Ministry Headquarters had done so, was put in place and sealed by the goblins.

Hearing the sound of stones collapsing one over another Sirius could easily imagine seeing the walls collapsing behind the other wall. And it was easy to imagine the shrieks of horror when the bomb went off and the building started to collapse, killing and injuring people inside it.

He closed his eyes and shook his head, trying to make those images vanish from before his eyes.

"Is there anything we have to do here?" Mrs Scrimgeour's soft voice asked.

"The structure was secured, evidence was gathered…" Sirius whispered. "I will instruct Tau division to move the Muggles back to their houses. Then I will go to St Mungo's, then to Hogwarts to catch up with Thomson about the list."

"The press?" Mrs Scrimgeour asked quietly.

"Someone from Hogwarts was supposed to inform them," Sirius sighed. "Should be over by now."

"I don't think so," Mirzam shook her head. "They will be waiting for more information. Of course they had shared necessary information but what they probably got wasn't much and they will be waiting for you."

The trip to St Mungo's had provided him with another list of people who were either killed or died because of the injuries they received. Total number of people who lost their lives had raised from four hundred forty to four hundred ninety-seven.

He had given up searching for familiar names on the list, there were too many familiar names on it already to delve deeper...

He welcomed the squeezing pull of Side-Along-Aparition… most likely Mirzam's doing and to his utmost relief he found himself seated on Mirzam's desk with a glass of cognac in his hand.

"Drink," Mirzam instructed him. "You are pale like a sheet."

"Better make it half," tired voice said and when Sirius looked past Mirzam he saw a tired looking Brainslook standing by the door to Mirzam's office. "The officials want you to read the lists… the wires… Dumbledore and the officials had summoned almost the whole wizarding population to Hogwarts."

"Fuck," Sirius whispered.

"Fuck indeed," Brainslook said grimly.

**R. B.**

He slept bad that night, terribly in fact, at first he couldn't fall asleep and when he did so he kept waking up every hour to spend another hour at trying to fall asleep. Finally at six o'clock in the morning he had enough, dressed himself up and decided to have an early morning run around the edge of Forbidden Forest.

By breakfast for an unknown reason his anxiousness reached a new level and he paid no attention to the lesson, something which almost made his grandpa give him a detention.

"It's Halloween for Merlin's sake Reggie," Ron rolled his eyes after he saw Regulus twitch again when older students passed by them. "There is no evil lurking around the corner, well other than Snape but with Dumbledore around there is nothing he can do."

Regulus shook his head at that comment. He liked Ron but some of Ron's comments…

It started innocently enough, right after they were let out from their punishment Hermione hurried to the library to get her hands at every copy of Daily Prophet from July and August. She had learned valuable information about attempted robbery in Gringotts which took place on the day of Charlie's birthday, nothing had been stolen from there because the vault was emptied on the same day.

The five of them, meaning Hermione, Neville, Charlie, Teddy and Ron had managed to reach ultimate conclusion that the mysterious object had been taken out of Gringotts only to be placed in safe place… and what was safer than Hogwarts… Besides considering Grandpa Albie's cryptic explanations about third floor corridor had lead to another conclusion. The mysterious object was at Hogwarts and quite possibly hidden under the trapdoor guarded by the Cerberus.

Regulus was above the mysterious object hidden on the third floor. After all it was hidden by Grandpa Albie and Grandpa Albie knew what he was doing. There were bigger mysteries than some hidden object.

For the last month Professor Quirrel was constantly getting on Regulus's already thin nerves. He had seen Defence Against the Dark Arts teachers come and go. No one had lasted longer than a year and yet there wasn't a man which at the same time made Regulus more uncomfortable or unreasonably nervous than Quirrel.

To make matters worse Quirrel took a liking to Regulus and every now and then he kept asking Regulus to join him in his office. The frequency of Quirrel's requests had been so ridiculous that Regulus avoided the man at all cost.

Why was Quirrel so obsessed with him Regulus didn't know.

In the end he had shared his doubts with his Dad and to his utmost relief his parents managed to persuade Professor McGonagall to excuse Regulus from Defence Against the Dark Arts for the whole year seeing that Regulus was way ahead of the class.

But even that hadn't stopped Regulus from fretting and worrying that something bad had happened.

By lunch Great Hall had filled with whispers, some older Gryffindors had spotted several Ministry officials coming and going along the corridors with extremely sombre expressions on their faces.

Regulus wasted no time to make a beeline to Grandpa Orion, who in the last months had proved to have the same level of confidence as Uncle Severus or Professor McGonagall with Grandpa Albie. Seeing that Grandpa Albie was questioned by older students Regulus chose next best option.

"… I'm afraid that I cannot say more…" Grandpa Albie's comment had reached Regulus's ears as he looked at his grandfather. "We don't know the exact number…"

"Professor," Regulus said casually. "What's happening?"

"Your father is safe…" Grandpa Orion whispered. "Your mother is with him. Be strong for your friends and go back to your seat."

Regulus rolled his eyes at the comment but obeyed the request. At least his dad was safe and his mum was with him.

He barely managed to reach his seat when red sparks had drawn his attention back to the high table. To his utmost shock Regulus spotted his grandpa Orion standing on the high table with his wand outstretched. He looked almost as powerful in his stance as Grandpa Albie… almost.

"Silence!" Grandpa Orion hissed. "Those out, please come back to your seats, those seated don't move from there until I finish."

To Regulus's unhidden amusement the command was quickly obeyed and within a minute Great Hall looked as calm as one could make it.

"We had been asked to withhold the information which I'm about to reveal. The request wasn't made from ill will but to prevent panic. However the panic already started making its way and I see no other choice but to tell you the utmost truth about what we know," Grandpa Orion said gravely.

"Today at half past ten o'clock in the morning an unknown assassin had entered the Ministry of Magic and with an explosive had managed to kill over four hundred employees of Ministry of Magic," he paused and started searching for someone in the crowd. "An explosive was placed by the office of Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge and the force of the explosion had destroyed three upper levels effectively killing anyone who happened to be there… There were survivors on the fourth floor but most of them are heavily injured… Division Omega, Aurors from Auror Office at the Ministry of Magic had suffered greatly and lost over a hundred Aurors during the explosion… For now that's all we know… Hopefully within next hour we will have a complete list of the deceased, injured, missing and unharmed…"

Regulus heard Susan Bones gasp in shock and felt Neville's grip on his arm… Neville's dad was in Cologne at International Conference of European Aurors… but his mum.

From the corner of his eye Regulus saw a small, balding and big-bellied man talking to Grandpa Orion hurriedly. The older man listened intently to the official before he turned towards the crowd and said carefully.

"Due to the loss of Minister of Magic and his natural successors in case of sudden and unfortunate demise of the Minister, Head of Department of Magical Law Enforcement Madam Amelia Bones and Head Commissioner of Auror Forces, Auror Rufus Scrimgeour, the remaining Heads of the Departments had decided to name Deputy Commissioner of Auror Forces, Auror Sirius Black, Acting Minister of Magic and Head Prosecutor of Auror Forces, Albus Slugtruckar as Acting Head Commissioner of the Auror Forces. In addition Arcturus Black has been named Acting Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. He got this position because he had headed aforementioned department during the war with Dark Lord Grindelwald and in so far is the most experienced and alive member of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, even if retired. Considering the gravity of the situation and the great loss of life it has been decided that all acting Heads of the Departments and Offices will continue heading the departments and offices to which they were assigned for the longest period which Acting Upper Personnel of Ministry of Magic can substitute … which is six months.

"Mr Waver here had brought with himself the list of injured people which are in St Mungo at the moment," Grandpa Orion mentioned at the small balding man. "If you will give him a moment to distribute the copies of the list between the members of the staff…" he paused as he looked down at the man with disgust, "Coward, sure go ahead," he growled as he barely caught the list which was thrust into his hands before he turned to face the crowd. "When I will read out the surname of your relative please stand up from the table and approach the end of your house table and stand there until your Head of the House will take you and your classmates to St Mungo's."

Regulus listened intently to the names of injured, finding it more and more gruesome, he hardly knew those people but for Neville's sake he had his fingers crossed that his mother was only injured rather than dead, she was an Auror and she would have been on second floor with other Aurors…

Regulus swallowed thickly as he continued listening and running circles over Neville's back, who was looking paler than Regulus had ever seen him.

"What about you?" Charlie asked, and from the corner of his eye he spotted Ron looking more and more relieved.

"Dad was supposed to have night duty last night," Ron whispered. "There is absolutely no reason why he should be there when the building exploded… But I will ask McGonagall when she will return… There are people who need her assistance more…" Then he turned to Neville and said sympathetically, "I'm sure that your mum is going to be fine Neville, she is great Auror…"

"…but still a human," Neville whispered brokenly. "She was supposed to be on duty today since six…" he shook his head. "She wrote yesterday, complaining about your dad starting his shift at eleven rather than six… He missed the explosion by half an hour…" he looked at Reggie nervously.

"Knowing dad?" Regulus flinched. "He missed it by fifteen minutes…" he flinched again. "She might have gone out for a coffee."

"She is dead," Neville whispered softly. "I can feel it… I know that she is dead… I cannot explain it but I know."

Regulus sighed, not really knowing how to fight with that statement. So he wrapped his left arm around Neville's shoulders and hugged his friend tightly, praying inwardly that Neville's feelings were wrong and in few minutes Mrs Longbottom will walk through the door to Great Hall smiling brightly…

But she hadn't come.

It had taken Regulus a while to draw Neville out of the Great Hall after the list of injured and missing members of the Ministry of Magic personnel was read. Together with Hermione's, Teddy's and Ron's help they dragged Neville under the willow by the lakeside, Charlie remained inside the Great Hall to listen to any news.

"Longbottom is snivelling," said a taunting voice from behind Regulus's back. "Your pet died Snivellius?"

Regulus saw red, literally. Quickly he whirled around and pointed his wand at Draco Malfoy as he said viciously, "I wouldn't be going there if I were you. For all we know YOUR father might have seen a fit to visit Minister of Magic today to corrupt him some more…"

That comment made all blood leave Draco's face and the git scrambled hurriedly in the direction of the castle.

"That was a bit cruel, Reggie," Hermione said pointedly.

"That was wishful thinking, Hermione," Regulus rolled his eyes. "Lucius Malfoy has annoying tendency of getting himself away from the very hard places. For all we know he might be at the Malfoy Manor toasting to the dead and destruction."

"I'm afraid that you are wrong, Regulus," said a soft familiar voice of Grandpa Archie. "Lucius Malfoy had been seen in the Ministry today, leaving sixth floor, had been in the lifts when the explosion took place."

"But he wasn't listed as injured or missing," Neville protested weakly. "We heard that list."

"You see Neville," Grandpa Archie said gently as he knelt in front of Neville. "Not all bodies were recovered during the first two swipes which brought injured and deceased. The lifts were damaged so badly that they weren't touched at all. Sirius last time I heard something about him was talking with the goblins about using goblin enchantments to rebuild the building long enough to gather the evidence against the assassin. By the evening the list of the deceased should be complete. In the meantime all we can do is wait."

"What you are going to do now?" Regulus asked carefully.

"Yell at the incompetent idiots to stop doing nothing and actually do something. Secure the papers because if something will go missing our country might be put in jeopardy and most important of all summon your father," he nodded at Regulus, "to Hogwarts, I already summoned the Slugtruckar lad, he is coming back from his vacation but seeing that he cannot use the international floo network it's taking some time but he should be here within next hour… unlike some unlucky sods he has an Auror's pass."

"Auror pass?" Hermione asked sceptically.

"Anti-Apparition ward was cast two hours ago around Hogwarts, Hogsmeade and remains of the Ministry of Magic. The only places where common people can go are St Mungo's and Diagon Alley," Grandpa Archie explained.

"But you cannot Apparate at Hogwarts!" Hermione protested. "I read about it in Hogwarts: A History…"

"That's actually true my dear girl, for the most of the time… but considering dire circumstances Apparition was allowed by Dumbledore but only to teachers and Ministry officials. Seeing that I'm neither and the floo network is down… I had to use the old Firestopper to get here, left him in the forest," Grandpa Archie explained. "I would love to talk to you kiddies but I really need to head inside."

He stood up and swiftly whipped the knees of his robe before he looked down at Neville sympathetically.

"Don't lose hope laddie," he said softly. "Alice is strong girl… but if she died… take comfort in the thought that her death was quick and she hadn't suffered," he squeezed Neville's shoulder gently.

Neville nodded slowly and took a heavy sigh.

"Morgan's plea," he whispered. "Long life and agony is for Healers, we die young and quickly for we are Aurors. She always found it morbid… but I know that she wanted to pass away quickly and painlessly… at old age… but one cannot have everything."

How long they were sitting there Regulus didn't know… at some point they were joined by Ron's older brothers and Charlie, who came back with the news that Great Hall was packed nearly to the brim and that Grandpa Orion was looking for Regulus and the rest.

"What for?" Regulus asked sceptically. "Hadn't he had enough at his hands already. Apparently he was dubbed Ministry of Magic Spokesperson to Hogwarts Students."

"Apparently not," Charlie shrugged. "Your grandpa relieved him from that duty after yelling at that idiot who ran away from giving the list of injured. Your grandfather was reassigned by Dumbledore to keep the vermin in the Great Hall."

"Vermin?" Neville asked blankly.

"Reporters," Regulus explained. "He hates Rita Skeeter and calls her a vermin. By I still don't see a reason why he wants us there now, it's not evening."

"People started to gather and there is a rumour that your father came back to Hogwarts. One of the portraits saw him around your mother's quarters… Brainslook told me that the full list of the deceased will be given within ten to fifteen minutes… if your mother will manage to put your father together during that time. According to painted source he looks exhausted…"

Regulus stopped listening and quickly gathered his friends.

Getting into Great Hall was a bloody horror, there were people everywhere and no one was keen to let them through until pissed off Regulus used Moses Crowd-Parting Spell (his father always tried to convince him that it was the real name of the spell but in so far Regulus didn't manage to find its true name… nevertheless the spell was useful even if considered as rude) and the crowd had parted forcibly wide enough for Regulus to usher his friends to the front.

They didn't manage to find any free place at the front of the hall, it was filled mostly with disturbed members of the families who lost their beloved ones… But thankfully in third row by the wall Ron spotted his brothers, sister and father talking with Cedric and his parents, so Regulus quickly ushered the bunch there.

Five minutes had passed before the commotion started dying down slowly and people had settled in conjured chairs quite hastily. Over the heads of people in his way Regulus spotted his family. Grandpa Orion was walking ahead with his dad, few steps away behind them was heading Regulus's mum with her arm wrapped around Mrs Malfoy's shoulders. The girls weren't present but then again it was bad enough for Regulus's parents to have Regulus and his friends in Great Hall amongst the crowd.

Upon reaching the podium for a moment Regulus's dad kept conversating with Grandpa Orion but not before giving small nod to Regulus's mum who passed the first row along with Mrs Malfoy and quickly come to stand by Regulus.

She looked exhausted even thought the full moon was over a week ago but if she was with Regulus's dad for most of the time Regulus really couldn't blame her for looking deadly pale.

Nevertheless swiftly she disposed the sobbing Mrs Malfoy in Mr Weasley's arms, who looked at Regulus's mum with mixture of shock and bewilderment, before she knelt in the cramped space between the wall and the rows of chair and looked at Neville.

"I'm sorry Neville…" she said softly.

"Was it quick?" Neville asked in cracked determination.

"Instantaneous," Regulus's Mum said softly. "I'm truly sorry…" she added as she hugged Neville.

"Dad?" Neville chocked out.

"We tried to reach him, he is still at the conference, locked up as if in Gringotts… Sirius wanted to tell him what happened…" Regulus's mum said quietly. "But there is…"

"HUSH!" an old lady with brown hair hissed at them.

"Hush me again and I will hex you out of the Great Hall," Regulus's mum said lividly. "I know for a fact that not one of your relatives is working in the Ministry of Magic and neither do you so I will have no reservations with doing it."

"You can't!" the woman protested. "I'm Greta Catchlove famous…"

"… author of a very good tinder," Regulus's mum said venomously. "One word Mrs Catchlove, I'm warning you."

The warning seemed to sink in and Mrs Catchlove closed her mouth but Regulus's mum couldn't finish what she started saying anyway because Regulus's dad started speaking…

"… given the sad task of giving the completed list of the deceased…"

Regulus acknowledged the names of the Minister and better half of the Auror office… as expected Neville's mum was amongst the deceased but so were the others. There was Mr Edgecombe, Mr Brocklehurst… Neville sobbed through the list of the Aurors wrapped in Regulus's mum's arms…

The further his dad read the names the more unrecognisable the names became to Regulus but then again he knew mostly Aurors.

But suddenly Regulus's dad said, "Lucius Abraxas Malfoy," which caused a sob to tear from Mrs Malfoy throat and on the other side of the Great Hall was heard a chocked gasp, most probably from Draco.

'Molly Weasley and Augusta Longbottom' caught Regulus by surprise. Quickly he looked at Neville and the Weasleys.

Neville was still wrapped in Regulus's mum embrace and so was Ginny who quickly hid her face in Regulus's mum robes. Mr Weasley stared at Regulus's dad at the podium in utter shock, and he had to be in utter shock to keep rubbing Mrs Mafloy's back in comforting circles while the woman herself was sobbing into Mr Weasley's robe.

Percy's mouth was dropped slightly and the twins looked as if someone had pulled the worst prank ever on them. Ron looked deathly pale and if he wasn't held firmly by the arms by Teddy and Charlie he would have collapsed on the floor.

The list was finished fairly quickly afterwards with giving the name and fate of the assassin, luckily for assassin the man he was dead because Regulus had sneaking suspicions that he would be lynched otherwise.

"I take upon my honour to ensure that despite the loss which had befallen on us our government will continue to exist and that we will prepare the fastest and most efficient way to ensure that a tragedy of this scale will never happen again. However it's essential for all citizens of United Kingdom to not disturb the Aurors in ensuring the safety of our country. More so I had been asked by Acting Head Commissioner of Auror Forces, Prosecutor Slugtruckar to make an official order for all retired Aurors to come back to work within next day. Additionally all trainers from Auror Academy no matter the year will be going through accelerated training which I'm reinstalling until further notice, which I had been assured will remain in place even after elections for Minister of Magic in April… to my knowledge at the moment is scheduled for 26th April," Regulus's dad finished.

He continued his speech afterwards and parts of it was reaching Regulus but not much of them because as soon as the day of the elections was announced Regulus's mum had started leading the whole bunch out of the Great Hall.

They almost made it to the door when they were assaulted by a tall woman with blonde hair with rigid curls, heavy-jawed with heavily pencilled eyebrows and jewelled spectacles. She snapped her large, mannish hand at Regulus's mum and Regulus saw her viciously red and absurdly long fingernails. From her arm was hanging crocodile-skin handbag with parchment and acid-green Quick-Quotes Quills.

"Mrs Black, would you care to make a statement?" the woman asked. "How does feel the new wife of the Minister of Magic?"

"I have no idea," Regulus's Mum snapped at the woman. "Last time I checked my husband had only one wife and that was me and since we had been married for ten years I'm hardly a new wife."

The woman giggled falsely and turned her eyes to Regulus, "Such a sweet little boy."

"Make a step in my direction and I will show you how sweet I can get," Regulus hissed lividly. "And in case you didn't happen to realise that it was a warning not a promise."

"So how do you judge the chances for your husband's election in April?" the woman turned her attention to Regulus's mum.

"Nil," mum shrugged. "He is not entering."

"Are you forbidding him to enter the elections?" the woman asked hopefully and one of her acid-green quills snapped into her hand.

"No," mum said simply. "I simply know my husband, Rita. He won't leave Aurors Forces for anything."

"The prestige, the fame, money…" woman muttered.

"He has his share and doesn't want more," mum shrugged. "Now kindly move out of my way."

"So that means that you aren't resigning from your post Mrs Black?" the woman continued prying.

"Why should I?" Regulus's mum asked.

"It's tradition…" the woman said. "Besides in your condition… I'm sure that Headmaster wouldn't allow a werewolf to work with children…"

Regulus heard gasps coming from all around them and carefully draw his wand waiting for an opportune moment to hex the woman into bloody Timbuktu.

"… nor a werewolf should be a wife of the Minister of Magic, acting or not," the woman finished viciously. "I'm sure that when Minister will learn of your deception he will make sure to renounce your marriage and take your spawns away."

"I wouldn't be so sure," Regulus said sweetly. "Dad knows that mum is a werewolf, so does Headmaster Dumbledore and Hogwarts Board of Governors. Now leave or I will hex your sorry arse into bloody Timbuktu."

"And if I will find that you had entered premises of Hogwarts again at the time when no press conference takes place I will personally ensure that you will be watching the sun through the bars of Azkaban Rita," Regulus's mum hissed viciously. "Though I have half a mind to inform Mrs Cuffe of the real reason why her husband had paid such a hefty fine for his unregistered Animagi of a journalist… she would be delighted I assure you. Last time I heard about it she was mentioning floggings and skinning off."

"Mrs Black are you implying that Ms Skeeter is having an affair with Barnabas Cuffe?" asked small timid voice from Regulus's right.

"I'm not implying," Regulus's mum said simply. "My husband is an Auror and my close friend is a Prosecutor. Ms Skeeter over the years managed to get caught and accused for printing lies for which Mr Cuffe had paid quite a lot, enough to buy the Daily Prophet for ten times more than it's worth… half of his personal fortune as it was estimated went into the fines. Besides what kind of a husband would spend privately nearly two thousand galleons per year to a not very talented journalist while he refuses to let his wife to spend one hundred galleons for a dress robe for the Journalists' Yule Ball. Don't you find it curious because I do?"

"Galloping gargoyles, Mrs Black you are right," gasped small balding man. "So who is telling Mrs Cuffe?"

"She promised a pretty penny from what she will get after her divorce," Regulus's mum said calmly.

Miraculously good three quarters of the reporters surrounding them had dashed in the direction of the doorway leaving a stuppified Rita Skeeter by the door.

Regulus's mum swiftly passed by stunned journalist and started walking up the stairs when Grandpa Orion had caught up with them, to his side was clinging a devastated Draco Malfoy.

"Thank you Professor," Mrs Malfoy whispered. "I couldn't find him in that commotion. Would I cause a problem if I asked you to find Professor Snape and ask him to come to Professor Black for me?"

"I'm afraid that it would be a problem, Mrs Malfoy," Grandpa Orion shook his head. "Professor Snape hadn't returned with the rest of the students, in fact he contacted me to take the charge of the Slytherin house for the moment… Someone dear to him had suffered greatly in today's attack…"

"I understand," Mrs Malfoy whispered. "I never knew that his mother had worked at the Ministry of Magic."

"Mrs Prince is a Potions Mistress at Beauxbatons Mrs Malfoy," Grandpa Orion clarified gently. "And she seems to be in fine health, was when I spoke to her for the last time."

"I understand," Mrs Malfoy said quietly. "Perhaps she… would like to help him…"

"Splendid idea," Grandpa Orion said swiftly. "She would be delighted to come. I shall contact her immediately," and with that he left them standing on the stairs.

"Abraxas…" Mrs Malfoy said weakly as she leaned heavily on Regulus's mum. For some reason she seemed to be very frightened. "Please don't let him come here…"

"And how do you suppose I shall do it?" Regulus's mum asked ironically. "I'm a Mudlood, he won't answer to me."

"But he will answer to Mrs Black," Mrs Malfoy said softly.

"Perhaps not," Regulus's mum said as she watched the crowd in the hall and Regulus's dad heading towards an aging man with pale hair and long walking-stick. "He will take care of him."

"Why?" Draco asked quietly. "He is my grandpa."

"Not anymore," Mrs Malfoy said quietly. "Not anymore."

"But mother…" Draco started.

"If you think just like your grandfather that I should marry him to retain the name of Malfoy and all of your father's belongings then be my guest Dragon and go to him. However you would have to take into consideration that you won't be able to return to me if you change your mind," Mrs Malfoy said stiffly.

"Why?" Draco asked suspiciously.

"Shows how little you know cousin," Regulus coughed. "Our father had claimed blood feud between our families. You can be either a Malfoy or a Black, but never both. So pick a side and stick to it."

"So where that leaves us?" Draco asked weakly.

"Standing on the stairs, on publics display, especially one of your grandfather's," Regulus's mum said stiffly.

"Can someone tell me what's going on?" Draco huffed.

"Gladly. Upstairs," Mrs Malfoy said quickly.

_**Dormant Life**_

What Mrs Malfoy had told Draco he didn't know until much later. He almost made it to his mother's quarters but that was it. Right in front of the entrance he was intercepted by Professor Burbage and was asked to help with finding a Ravenlaw girl which had gone missing upon hearing that both of her parents were dead.

Locating Lisa Turpin was a horror actually, thankfully he was aided by Dannie and her Slytherin friends and after a solid hour of looking around the dungeons they found small brown-eyed blonde huddled in alcove in the farthest end of the dungeons and escorted her to Uncle Severus's office.

While Uncle Severus was away Regulus was not an idiot and could tell a difference between a calming draught and other potions very well and Lisa was shaking so badly that calming draught was a must. So they 'broke' into Uncle Severus's office.

Regulus seated Lisa in the chair and went to fetch the potion. He almost make it back to the office when the door to the corridor had opened and three people stepped inside it.

One was Grandpa Orion. Another was a tall, lanky man with shoulder-length, almost white hair and kind warm brown eyes. He had his arm wrapped around Grandpa Orion's shoulders and Regulus couldn't help but hazard a guess that the man had been those mysterious friend Grandpa Orion had often mentioned. There was also something incredibly familiar about the man but Regulus wasn't able to put a finger on it.

The woman to the contrary was their complete opposite starting from the simple fact that she was a woman, through her waist-long black hair as dark as her heavy eyebrows, long face and crooked nose. Her dark eyes had settled on Regulus immediately or more precisely on the bottle he was holding.

Even though the similarity was small the unreadable expression and crooked nose was enough for Regulus to come to right conclusion.

"Good evening Professor Prince," Regulus said swiftly. "I trust that Professor Brainslook had informed you of the circumstances surrounding your visit and that Professor Snape would be unable to attend to your needs for some time as he is otherwise occupied at the moment. If you wouldn't mind I would like to apply calming draught to my friend and we shall leave the office at your disposal."

"You are…" Mrs Prince said slowly.

"Regulus Black," Grandpa Orion said dryly.

"Nice to meet you Professors…" Regulus said swiftly.

"Johanus Jahnn-Nupital," the other man said swiftly. "German roots."

'Yeah right and I'm the Queen of England,' Regulus mussed inwardly.

The probability of the man really being Johanus Jahnn-Nupital was as possible as Regulus being betrothed to Pansy Parkinson, none existent. And after meeting Grandpa Orion and discovering his secret Regulus could easily bet his wand that the name was just another anagram like Cirius Brainslook was, the only difference was that Brainslook actually sounded like a normal surname.

"What subject do you teach Professor Jahnn-Nupital?" Regulus tried his best to appear curious and not suspicious.

"Ancient Runes. I always had a knack at solving mysteries," the man answered swiftly.

"What do you think about 'Negation of Mesmer's Theory of Unnatural Language Related Abilities' by Professor Mirzam Black?" Regulus asked. He grinned inwardly. If the man was a real expert then he would be able to come to conclusion that such article had never existed. "It gets very interesting towards the middle where the Professor discusses Parselmouths."

"Ah, Negation of Mesmer's Theory of Unnatural Language Related Abilities," the man said fondly. "I loved the Parselmouths part."

"Really?" Regulus asked swiftly.

"Naturally. Professor Black is a great scholar…"

"Sure she is," Regulus rolled his eyes. "But there is a small problem here Professor. You aren't teaching Ancient Runes because if you did you would know that Professor Mirzam Black had never written 'Negation of Mesmer's Theory of Unnatural Language Related Abilities' and most certainly hadn't discussed Parselmouths in it."

"Err…" the man looked nervously at Grandpa Orion.

"He's teaching Charms, Regulus, but he was filling in for our Ancient Runes Professor for two months and he loves that title better, even if he can easily get outsmarted by a first year," Grandpa Orion said tiredly.

"Who happens to be a son of the aforementioned professor," Regulus said dryly. "Though I'm sure that my mother would love to write the negation of Mesmer's theory of unnatural language related abilities."

"Why?" Mrs Prince asked curiously.

"Because it's impossible to negate it and she eats impossible for breakfast," Regulus said simply and quickly manoeuvred the girls out of the office.

"Does she really?" Dannie asked sceptically. "I mean I like your mum… but she is… you know a human."

"Of course she doesn't Dannie. She is tackling the Avis' letters at the moment and is loving every minute of it," Regulus explained.

"She really does?" Tracey asked eagerly. "Boy she would be completely adored by Potions Masters from around the world. No one had tackled more than the infamous note."

"Because wizards are allergic to logic and Avis letters are simple to decipher once you apply logic to them," Regulus clarified. "Professor Snape is checking the recipes for accuracy from Potions Master's point of view and when they are done they would publish the book together."

"When?" Lilith asked eagerly.

"I was told that it should happen sometime in this century," Regulus answered.

_**Dormant Life**_

He left Lisa under the care of Professor Flitwick while he hurried to his mother's quarters where he found her seated at the sofa and staring stubbornly at the glass of wine in front of her.

"What happened while I was gone?" he asked eagerly.

"If I will start now I won't finish until tomorrow, Reggie," his Mum sighed.

"A summary then?" Regulus asked as he flopped on the seat next to his mum and leaned into her embrace.

"Lucius Malfoy is dead, so his father Abraxas had decided that for Narcissa and Draco to keep the name of Malfoy and the Malfoys fortune she has to marry him before the year ends. Draco is wary, Narcissa is firmly against it. Arthur on the other hand is in some kind of a stupor and cannot shake it off. What is worse he is completely cowed and won't tell why. It's not that he is grieving… I saw grieving people and Arthur's reaction is not the one I would have expected from a man who quite recently lost his beloved wife and the mother of his children… He acts… normal… I mean as a man would normally do except it seems as if he wasn't involved, as if it wasn't his wife."

"You reckon that Mrs Weasley…" Regulus mumbled. "Used a love potion on him? Things like that happened before… Well not to the Weasleys."

"Not a love potion," his mum shook her head. "Something much more subtler… Something which actually can make a man so cowed to have show no reaction whatsoever."

"A suppressant?" Regulus suggested. "A potion or a charm."

Something fell to the ground right in front of them. Regulus bend to pick it up but his mum caught his arm before he touched small silver ring.

The ring rose in the air as if controlled by magic, which it was knowing mum and came to hover two inches above her right palm.

"Fidelity Spell," mum murmured. "See this silver aura on the inward side," she moved the ring closer to Regulus by the wave of her hand. "Very strong Fidelity Spell… Libido dampening potion, that's the faint green aura at the edges… Memory Modifying spell… the white one on the outer side… Who in the name of Merlin would use it on someone."

"Molly did," Mr Weasley said quietly. "Long time ago… we were going through a small crisis…"

Regulus and his mum exchange a look on that comment. A crisis involving Mrs Weasley was never small… But since it was rude to speak ill of the dead…

"Don't judge her too hard," Mr Weasley said slowly. "She was afraid… and for a good reason too. We loved each other… when we were younger… some part of me still does. But there were lots of things on which we couldn't agree on. We grew up with siblings and it was quite natural for us to decide to have more than one child. So we had Bill, then Charlie … and Percy… For me it was enough… I didn't get much from my work and while three children wouldn't strain our budget very much I tried to put my foot down. We could have waited a few more years for my promotion and in the meantime the boys would get old enough to help with a younger sibling if it came around."

"It's Ginevra, isn't it?" Regulus's mum asked softly.

"Molly's family always had daughters, at least one. I knew how much she desired to have a girl… even thought I knew that the chances for a girl were minimal," he said heavily. "I agreed to give the idea a try. We agreed to have another child… The last one for few years if not longer… no matter its sex… The last one… and then the twins were born… Molly was deeply disappointed… but there was nothing she could do…"

"She started plotting how to persuade you into having another child," Regulus's mum said.

"She did," Mr Weasley nodded. "I tried to avoid it… The Order, the Ministry… it was a salvation and damnation at the same time. I made sure to never had much of the time at my hands to spare, and the one I had I tried to spend maximum of it with the kids… It wasn't their fault that they weren't a girl.

"A year before Ron was born I had meet Gloria Robertson… Delightful girl… Very understanding… very kind… and… everything Molly wasn't back then. She was a great friend to me… knew how to make me laugh… how to cherish small moments. I never lied a hand on her… but I did… fall in love… Ironic isn't it."

"And Molly found out," Regulus's mum said quietly.

"I loved them both. I loved Gloria and I had loved Molly, I couldn't have chosen between the two of them. Not when the kids were involved… I never meant to harm either of them… but it happened. Molly was pregnant with Ron, quite close to his birth, about a month to it. She had found the note from Gloria… While I never let my feelings show there had to be something in the letter which Molly saw that I failed to see…"

"I bet she was livid," Regulus's mum sighed.

"She was… she put a spell on the wedding band… Fidelity… much more later she added Memory modifying charm to make me forget all about Gloria… the potion… was added after Ginny was born… She finally achieved what she wanted… she had a daughter she longed to have… she didn't need me."

"Did you love her? Truly?"

"It was easy to love Molly without Gloria in the picture… but there was something in it… some part missing. Things I wouldn't dare to think about discussing with Molly while I knew that there was someone with whom I could talk about everything."

"And now?"

"Now is now, past is past," Mr Weasley said quietly. "It happened and cannot be undone. Part of me feels angry while the other part mourns… I lost them both and there is nothing I can do… I have to learn how to live with this void inside me… I loved two women in my life and I had lost both… one to my selfishness and the other to my stupidity…"

"You couldn't have known that the attack was going to happen," Regulus's mum said stiffly. "There was nothing you could do to prevent it."

"I shouldn't ask her to pick up that file on her way home. Regardless of what you think, if I hadn't asked her by the time the building had collapsed she would be back at home," Mr Weasley shook his head. "I'm going to catch some fresh air. Would you mind to have an eye on the kids for a hour… They are sleeping but…"

"I won't mind at all," Regulus's mum answered. "I won't be able to sleep tonight anyway."

Mr Weasley hadn't said a word as he left the sitting-room.

"I hope that they would be able to help one another," mum sighed when the door closed. At the puzzled look on Regulus's face she added, "Narcissa is somewhere out there too… She stormed out after Draco fell asleep…"

"What about Neville?" Regulus asked.

"I stayed with him until he fell asleep, Hermione is with him now. Your father went to inform Frank of the attack and Alice's death. He would need a friend tonight."

"Don't we all?" Regulus asked sleepily. "I feel as if I had lived a lifetime already mum."

"We all did, Reggie, we all did," mum said softly. "We are lucky that no harm had come to our family… I cannot imagine my life without your father by my side… We have the strength to be with our friends and to help them through difficult time… The world around us had changed Reggie… I don't know what will come tomorrow but whatever it would be it will change the world we once knew."

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**Awaiting criticism - like always. I'm replying as long as you leave me your email or you log in while reviewing.**

_Next chapter: well I was promising myself Remus's point of view for that day (as well as personal stuff - and yes I'm speaking about 'glowing' which Sirius observed not so long ago). But that isn't whole chapter, just a part of it. Unless I won't change my mind by the end of the next chapter we should be around Sirius's birthday or at least Regulus's adoption party. Which means that by chapter thirteen we should be around Christmas break - quite appropriate, considering my sluggish tempo it should be posted around Christmas break . Then most probably I will start skipping to June but not overly fast... I was right, Philosopher Stone should be completed in around twenty chapters (pats herself on the shoulder). Then we would move to the Chamber of Secrets and the fun will begin._

_And yes, formating and I don't like each other very much so I devised 'cool' lines which remind you what you are reading ; )_


	12. Chapter 12: United We Stand

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Harry Potter or anything what you can recognize from the books. I do however own the plot of this story but I don't have profits because of it unless you count improving my English as a profit.

Thanks to **omega13a** for beta-reading and helpful suggestions.

_Dedicated to all my wonderful Readers for their great patience with me.

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**Chapter twelve: United We Stand.**

**S. B.**

He had been to Cologne many times over the years but no matter how he got there and where he was supposed to end up somehow he always managed to land himself in the Apparition point at Cologne Central Station thus, not always trusting himself with Apparating all over the town, he had to leave the station the same way Muggles did: through the main gates into the forecourt with a plain view of the Cologne Cathedral.

He had never seen a building that tall which made him feel so terribly small and meaningless. Technically he had seen taller buildings, like the World Trade Center when he attended a conference in New York few years ago but the two towers or any other building he had seen hadn't succeed in making him feel so… tinny.

He wandered off in the direction of the nearest café from where he could observe the entrance to Cologne's Wizarding Conferencing Centre which should be letting out the international congregation of Aurors right about now.

A cup of tea later he spotted the first wizard leaving the centre, through supposedly not overly suspicious phone box and he quickly paid the bill and hurried to the entrance.

He managed to remain unseen to the Spanish delegation as well as the Italian one before he finally spotted Frank leaving the building.

The man looked incredibly nervous and Sirius knew why. Without doubt Frank tried to floo back home and had found out that he couldn't do it. When the Ministry had collapsed so did Floo Network and the only means of communication in United Kingdom which had remained were Apparition, Brooms and Knight Bus and since Floo Network was down and the CWCC had anti-Apparition wards the only way Frank would try would be heading to the Apparition point at the station because he had no Portkey on himself.

Swiftly he laid his hand on the older man's shoulder and said quietly, "We need to talk Frank."

Frank whirled around to face Sirius, the tip of his wand was sticking out of his sleeve and the nervous expression strengthened as he whispered, "Sirius? What you are doing here? The Floo is down… Merlin you look horrible."

"Do you have a minute?" Sirius sighed.

"But the Floo…" Frank started.

"Please," Sirius said quietly as he looked down at his own boots. "I prefer to spend the rest of the night doing other things than Apparating all over the Europe in search of you…"

"Is it urgent?" Frank asked cautiously.

"It is… but it can wait till we get into less crowded surroundings," Sirius answered. "There is a café not far away from here."

"I prefer Rheine bank if you don't mind, I was copped inside the CWCC since nine o'clock," Frank said.

The walk to the riverbank wasn't very long for them. Finally Frank sat down on a bench and looked at Sirius expectantly.

Nervous about Frank's reaction Sirius first pulled a stray strand of his long hair behind his ear and thrust his hands into his pockets right after doing it. Then he took a deep breath and looked Frank in the eye.

"There had been an attack on the Ministry today," Sirius said slowly. "Huge attack, at half past ten… there are many victims, heavily injured… and…" his voice broke down.

Frank paled drastically as he lowered his hands to his knees and whispered, "Alice is dead."

Not being able to find the right words Sirius nodded slowly.

"How many others?" Frank said softly.

"Four hundred ninety-eight dead, over two hundred injured, ten missing," Sirius whispered.

"The Ministry…" Frank whispered.

"Ministry Headquarters has been destroyed," Sirius shook his head. "Explosive material was used in the attack and the explosion completely damaged the structure of the building. We managed to use Goblins enchantments to pick up the evidence but it was only for that long."

"Neville? Floo Network?" Frank chocked out.

"Neville is with Mirzam and the kids," Sirius reassured him. "He already knows… The Floo Network all over the country came down when the attack occurred. It will take a week or even longer to reset it up."

"How did you get here?" Frank asked weakly.

"Apparition, I will take you to Hogwarts," Sirius said as he pulled out his hand from the pocket and extended it to Frank. "Almost everyone is there."

"Was it worse than when Voldemort was in power?" Frank said softly.

"No comparison Frank," Sirius said quietly. "You simply cannot."

But deep in his heart he did. Voldemort had filled their hearts with fear, destroyed families… but Voldemort also brought their strengths to the surface, brought the courage to say no, to rebel. Voldemort was real, powerful and terrifying but he was real… Voldemort wasn't the threat one couldn't see, Voldemort could be spied on…

Had Yaxley operated all on his own? Did he have help? If he did then who helped him?

"If you are ready Sirius… I don't think that I would be able to do it on my own…" Frank whispered.

"Right, sorry, I got lost in thoughts Frank," Sirius shook his head as he gripped Frank's arm and Apparated over to Hogwarts.

They didn't Apparate directly to the castle itself but landed on the grounds in front of the entrance gates to the castle. The whole building was glowing due to the dim candlelight which was coming through the windows, probably no one really wanted to sleep that night, certainly not adults..

"Sirius, good laddie, a word with you if you will," Grandpa Archie's voice come from the direction of the door. "I'm truly sorry Frank dear boy… Alice was such a wonderful girl."

"I know… please Mr Black…" Frank whispered.

"I'm afraid that I'm not bringing good news as well," Grandpa Archie stepped out of the shadows of the entrance on the grounds. "Your uncle… Merlin bless his soul… had suffered a stroke this afternoon and had passed through the veil… Your mother contacted us just an hour ago…"

Frank groaned softly and swayed on his feet. Sirius barely had time to catch him before he collapsed to the ground.

"You appear to be greatly distressed," Sirius commented as he looked at Grandpa Archie, seeking help but finding none of it.

"I am Sirius, I am," Grandpa Archie sighed. "But it would be rude to burden Frank with this information when he has enough to deal with."

"It's a shock…" Frank murmured. "Will pass… Is it a safety issue Mr Black?"

"Frank…" Sirius hissed.

"Sirius!" Frank said harshly.

"It is," Grandpa Archie sighed as he pulled a piece of parchment from his pocket and held it to Sirius.

Sirius slowly took the parchment and examined it. The parchment seemed to be of the best quality, so was the ink and the wax seal on it. Then he opened it and started reading.

_Dear Fools,_

_You are idiots to assume that young Yaxley was working on his own. He was not and soon you will learn how many of us are out there to bring __a__ new order to wizarding world. We shall start at the basics and proceed from there. Soon there won't any wizard left in Europe who won't know the power of the Brotherhood of Gethsemane and no Muggle who won't know their lowly place._

_Yours,_

_Gethsemanian_

"Madman or wanna be Dark Lord," Sirius muttered. "What do services make of it, Grandpa?"

"Not much. Everything we know is that Gethsemane itself isn't to blame and the community out there knows nothing of this Brotherhood. It might be an idle threat but we don't know that for sure."

"And if they wanted to size the control over the country Yaxley only made it easier for them," Frank mussed. "We will start at the basics… What does that mean?"

Sirius didn't answer, he knew what it meant. Swiftly he pulled out the mirror from his pocket and called Albus Slugtruckar's name. He was relieved when a second later he saw Albus's face in the mirror, the man looked as tired as Sirius felt.

"You've heard the news I take?" Albus asked tiredly.

"Where are you?" Sirius asked quickly.

"At Kells, evacuating the school. The Headmistress is a dear and she had no problems with announcing the evacuation to Hogwarts… and since we are at Hogwarts… well not literally but on the subject… Dumbledore dashed to France before I left… the word has it that he is heading to Albania to ensure that a certain Dark Lord remains there… He had given all responsibilities of the Headmaster to Brainslook… He might use some help with convincing McIntosh… Arthur's Convent had agreed to evacuate but in the morning… Common Magic is bemoaning the idea of evacuating but Kingsley went there, he can convince practically anyone and their grandmother to do anything he wishes…"

"What about Hogwarts?" Sirius asked sceptically. "We cannot close it… especially now."

"Of course we can't," Grandpa Archie said calmly. "Luckily for us Hogwarts is a big school and would be honoured to house the students from all over the country for as long as it is required."

"It was your idea," Sirius glanced at the older man.

"Drastic times call for drastic measures Sirius. We don't have enough Aurors to station groups around each school separately and Hogwarts is big enough to fit in the students from Kells, Arthur's Convent, Common Magic and McIntosh," Grandpa Archie answered. "Speaking about McIntosh… Brainslook could really use a hand in yelling at Headmaster McGowan."

"Perhaps he is thinking that Hogwarts is trying to resize the control over the education of wizarding children, McGowan I mean," Frank suggested.

"Like that would happen," Sirius snorted.

"My point exactly. Besides the schools keep their own schedule, teachers and discipline," Albus added. "I'm finishing with Kells… we should be leaving in fifteen minutes… Try to keep the grounds relatively empty for half an hour."

"Mirzam, Charity, Septima, Aurora, Pomona, Eileen and Minerva are arranging accommodations for the new students. Kells students and staff will be rewarded for their prompt arrival. Students themselves will receive the guest rooms under Gryffindor tower, the elves are already finishing putting things in place. If my memory serves me right you have one hundred and forty students with you Albus, don't you?" Grandpa Archie mussed.

"One hundred twenty students, ten teachers and ten kids under the age of eleven. The school is a closed cliché actually and all teachers have a spouse within the staff though kill me if I would have to explain it to you how it works. Each pair has two children warring with age between four to ten. Of course there is also the Headmistress, not married and childless but the dearest woman I ever had occasion to meet. Dumbledore would love her."

Sirius chose to not inform Albus that Dumbledore was gay, perhaps the younger man knew it or perhaps he didn't, then again babbling out that small piece of information in front of a known homophobe wouldn't be the brightest idea.

"What about the size of Arthur's Convent?" Sirius asked pensively.

"Roughly seventy students plus ten teachers," Grandpa Archie answered. "It would be easy to squeeze them on the ground floor close to the Puffs, students at least. Teachers would go to the first floor. Common Magic would be the biggest of them all, one hundred forty students plus ten teachers. McIntosh once McGowan will pull out his head out of his…" he looked at Frank and finished, "…anus will arrive with one hundred students and ten teachers. Naturally like Albus said we are counting without Headmasters or Headmistress, which come in equal numbers Mary Kelly, Headmistress of Kells School of Magic; Hannah Davies Headmistress of School of Common Magic; Malcolm McGowan Headmaster of McIntosh Boarding School for Wizards and Witches and finally Headmaster Hadrian Lowerbride from Arthur's Convent for Gifted. Ireland, Wales, Scotland and England if I remember correctly."

"We are still topping them, Common Magic I mean, by a hundred and ten in students," Sirius muttered. "Does someone know how logistically it's going to look like. Five different schools, five different Headmasters and Headmistress, fifty-two teachers and nearly seven hundred students… and I'm not counting the small ones."

"Suddenly I'm glad that I'm an Auror and not a teacher," Frank said with a small smile.

"There is no need for you two to wait for Kells, you have more important things to do at the moment Sirius, Frank," Grandpa Archie said simply. "Like grabbing a meal and heading to your families… oh and Sior take a shower, you stink worse than a fish market on a bad day."

**R. B.**

He tried to sleep, the operative word was, tried to… and failed to do so. Yet it seemed that he managed to catch a nap, a very short one because he remembered falling asleep with his head on his mum's knees and when he woke up he was laying on the couch, with a soft pillow under his head and a warm blanket cocooned over him.

He looked at the clock on the mantelpiece and groaned inwardly. Ten o'clock in the evening…

And yet when he woke up he hadn't feel tired at all, edgy, nervous and trapped yes, but not sleepy or tired.

He tiptoed to the room where the Weasley kids were put to sleep few hours earlier, Charlie was with them in the room and all of them were sleeping peacefully. Then Regulus made his way to the other bedroom where Neville was placed under the same circumstances. The other boy was sleeping peacefully, with a Golden Retriever curled around his feet and Teddy by his side… sleeping on the other bed was Draco Malfoy who definitely not sleeping peacefully, he was tossing and turning.

There wasn't any adult left in the room. There was no sign of Regulus's mum nor Mrs Malfoy or Mr Weasley… or more importantly Regulus's dad. Just when that thought entered his mind the door had opened and his dad stepped inside.

"Reggie!" his dad's face brightened upon seeing Regulus. "Merlin gracious. I hope that you didn't stay up all this time."

Regulus wasted no time and quickly hugged his dad.

"You look horrible dad," Regulus said with a weak smile. "And you stink."

"You are the second person who had informed me about it," his Dad answered. "But there is no time to waste Reggie. How do you feel about spending some time with you good old dad?"

"Is it dangerous?" Regulus asked sceptically.

"Not in the least," his dad answered.

"Sirius I don't think…" Mr Longbottom started.

"Frank, Reggie has lived at Hogwarts since he was a kid, he knows every nook and cranny as well as I do if not better. Seeing that I need to seal all entrances to the school he is the best companion one could ask for," Regulus's dad said simply.

"Have you seen Neville, Reggie?" Mr Longbottom turned to Regulus.

"In mum's bedroom… with Teddy and Draco Malfoy," Regulus grimaced slightly at the last name. "Mrs Malfoy and Mr Weasley are somewhere… around I guess."

"Will you be fine Frank?" Regulus's dad turned to Mr Longbottom. "I can give this task to someone else."

"Like Albus Slugtruckar?" Mr Longbottom asked sceptically. "Let's be realistic, if you won't do it yourself you will continue second guessing the one who does and in the end you will check all entrances by yourself anyway. Besides its quality time which you can spend with your son… I will be fine… I will sit with Neville for a bit and then take a nap… Something which you should do by the way."

"I will… after…" Regulus's dad said.

It took Regulus all but a minute to get fully dressed and ready to leave his mum's quarters.

While the idea of nightly wanderings didn't sound appealing to him after having so little sleep then most certainly spending some time with his dad was an opportunity he couldn't miss.

"Why do you want to seal all entrances to Hogwarts?" Regulus asked once they left his mother's quarters.

"Safety precaution Reggie," his dad answered. "Read for yourself," he added as he passed a piece of parchment to Regulus.

It read:

_Dear Fools,_

_You are idiots to assume that young Yaxley was working on his own. He was not and soon you will learn how many of us are out there to bring the new order to wizarding world. We shall start at the basics and proceed from there. Soon there won't any wizard left in Europe who won't know the power of the Brotherhood of Gethsemane and no Muggle who won't know their lowly place._

_Yours,_

_Gethsemanian_

"Voldemort?" Regulus asked sceptically. "Or someone new?"

"I wish I knew Reggie, I wish I knew," his dad sighed. "What really matters at the moment is the threat it contains."

"Starting at the basics," Regulus muttered. "You don't think that the Brotherhood would attack Hogwarts, do you?"

"Not Hogwarts, certainly not yet… but let's take no chances with the safety of the kids. Hogwarts holds less than half, close to one third population of students in the United Kingdom and Ireland and with Dumbledore as headmaster it's well protected. That's something which cannot be said about Kells School of Magic or Arthur's Convent for Gifted or School of Common Magic or even McIntosh's Boarding School for Wizards and Witches, though the last one comes close to Hogwarts on the subject of security."

"Then why seal the entrances?" Regulus asked pensively.

"Because come next evening Hogwarts will be hosting other schools until the Aurors ascertain that their buildings are safe and the wards around them are strengthened considerably. You have to remember that students from other schools aren't Hogwarts students, they answer to different rules, different teachers, things which for you as a Hogwarts student would be an offence for them it wouldn't be."

"I thought that we are supposed to live in the same, or at least similar to one another cultures dad," Regulus said. "Why it's such a fuss to have students from other schools to come here? Has it happened before?"

"To my knowledge it hadn't. Other schools, except McIntosh are relatively young, barely two hundred, two hundred fifty years old. McIntosh is older than the others, but not as old as Hogwarts… but four hundred years is not something you would miss.

"For a long time there had been a great rivalry between Hogwarts and McIntosh, mainly because the first Headmaster, McIntosh was expelled from Hogwarts for some trivial offence and decided to make a school which would be better than Hogwarts and much more attractive for students. The rivalry is over but the current Headmaster doesn't wish to have his school closed because of Hogwarts being the bigger school."

"And better," Regulus muttered.

"Well not exactly," his dad chuckled. "Hogwarts is Hogwarts and McIntosh is McIntosh, Reggie. Each is different… McIntosh takes first and foremost students from Scottish families, while Hogwarts takes students from all of the United Kingdom and Ireland. Each school is different and singular… each has subjects in which teachers truly excel at and are masters of their subjects. Kells for example excels in Herbology and Transfiguration centred around Herbology… also Potions… and produced a lot of very highly educated Healers. Common Magic has excellent Charms and Defensive Magic tutors, also Arithmancy, produces good Curse Breakers, and quite a lot of Aurors. Then there is Arthur's Convent which provides Historians, Librarians and Lawyers. McIntosh excels in producing future traders, wandmakers, well not as good as Ollivander but certainly a creative lot, also musicians and entertainers."

"And Hogwarts?" Regulus asked eagerly.

"Hogwarts never truly excelled in teaching just one art Reggie," his dad shrugged. "That's the downside of being the biggest school and having First Class Masters as Professors. Sure there is the prestige but that also means teaching everyone equally rather than centring the course subjects around certain occupations with one or two core subjects in the lead and devoting other subjects to help students understand the core subjects better."

"So because we are better we are average," Regulus summed up.

"Have your classmates showed any interest in one subject, a true interest I mean?" his dad asked.

"Neville, in Herbology… Hermione in Transfiguration… then everybody and their cat in History of Magic and Defence Against the Dark Arts… well the last one until we learned that Professor Quirrel is… an average teacher. So that leaves History but perhaps it's a novelty of not being taught by Binns and after some time it will wear off, give it a year or two."

His dad chuckled at the mention of Binns before he asked.

"What's with you kids and Brainslook. The girls adore him and so does Dumbledore. He practically adopted the man. You, Teddy and Charlie always speak highly of him and so does your mum."

"He is likable chap," Regulus shrugged. "I like him. He is logical and his heart is in the right place. And there is definitely more than meets the eye about him. You would like him too if you had given him a chance."

"Chance about what?" asked Grandpa Orion, who somehow come to walk just behind Regulus and his dad. "Regulus," he looked down at Regulus who only smiled dryly.

"Professor Brainslook," Regulus said politely. "How are you?"

"Old," Grandpa Orion snorted. "I don't know how Dumbledore does it but I officially confess to having a deep unyielding need to kill McGowan, slowly and painfully." Then he looked at Regulus and his dad again and asked pensively, "Are you sealing the entrances to school?"

"Yes," Regulus's dad nodded slowly. "Why are you asking?"

"I can help if you like," Grandpa Orion said simply. "I'd rather do something that is actually productive."

**R. L.**

Unlike Sirius, Remus Lupin happened to like Halloween. But then again Sirius grew out of his teenage fascination with everything remotely covered in chocolate while Remus didn't. Chocolate and kids delighted upon receiving it over the years managed to strengthen Remus affection towards the holiday even though certain events from ten years ago would be able to put off sweets for even him… but not for long.

The day itself started splendidly, though one could have doubts if midnight for most people was the start of a new day… Mere technicalities. Who really cared?

A year ago if someone told him that a year from now he would be in a relationship he would have laughed. He was too poor, too old and too dangerous for any woman to become her partner. Again mere technicalities because while Remus himself after the death of his parents and suffering long periods of unemployment discovered that moving in with Sirius and Mirzam and taking care of their kids made him Regulus's and Miranda's babysitter and later tutor and as such he was paid more than he needed (a subject which he refused to give a rest and Sirius refused to listen to his arguments). All in all over the years he managed to save up quite a lot of money which for a very long time he was afraid to touch without good reason.

Then there was too old issue. Thirty-one wasn't old, at least not old when long lives of wizards were concerned or even the lives of werewolves for that matter. One of the perks, or disadvantages of being a werewolf, depending from the point of view, was exceptionally long even for a wizard the life expectancy of werewolves, which was rumoured to be one hundred twenty in the very least… that's assuming that aforementioned werewolf managed to make it past the age of fifty without dying from magical exhaustion in their late forties, early fifties which was quite common amongst the werewolves. But since the condition was greatly connected to the normal health of a werewolf as a human Remus really had nothing to fear. The illness would miss him by a mile and it was more probable that one day he will shift from the mortal coil because of a heart-attack rather than magical exhaustion… Kreacher cooked splendidly and Mirzam herself was splendid cook.

Nevertheless the age of thirty for most wizards was the age when their kids reached, or were close to reaching the age of going to Hogwarts. So by the time Remus turned thirty years old ninety-five percentage of the women population from his generation had been married with children for a very long time. So the only women left for him were widows and recently graduated from Hogwarts females. Neither he considered as an option.

Being too dangerous for his partner was self explanatory. He was a bloody werewolf and no sane woman would be inclined to spend the rest of her life bound to a beast.

And yet he wasn't alone, even more he seriously started considering commitment. Maybe not marriage, but moving in together, devoting time to each other, spending evenings reading books together, cuddling and having sex, a lot of good sex.

And sex was good, great in fact, marvellous, wonderful and mind-blowing. If he was feeling particularly sarcastic deep in his mind he tried to decide if between the two of them it was him or Sirius who had a more… adventurous private life. Not that Sirius or Mirzam discussed such subjects at the table but for Merlin's sake after living with them for a long time Remus was able to read the sings pointing to the obvious conclusion.

Come to think of it, it was sex which had started his relationship, sex and some romanticised notion, based on a rumour (admitted jokingly a long time ago by his partner at the time she wasn't his partner yet) that werewolves have more stamina in bed than other men. At first Remus firmly refused the offer even though he felt greatly tempted to agree, just for the sport and the idea of finally getting laid (especially after listening to certain pair having a go in the library).

It took her nearly a whole year to finally convince him to admit that he had nothing to lose and at the worst he will get laid… No, that wasn't the worst, the worst would be, him finally getting laid and Sirius learning of that small fact and then having Sirius skin him alive because he had dared to touch his little cousin.

He was having sex with Nymphadora Tonks, Sirius's little cousin (and the rumour had it that Sirius was also her godfather but Remus had yet to get a definite answer to that question out of Sirius) and a woman junior to him by nearly thirteen years who just few months ago graduated from Hogwarts.

Yes, Sirius was definitely going to kill him, slowly and painfully.

Except it wasn't just sex, even if it was great. They connected, intellectually, emphatically and any other _ally_ he could name from the top of his head. She was a great friend and companion and she had been one for a very long time. He had seen her growing up from a clumsy kid into a still clumsy woman with the biggest heart he ever saw in a person. She was funny, warm, full of ideals and hopes…

… and he knew the world and knew that reality will cut off her wings, painfully on that. He yearned to be the one to prevent it or to catch her when it would happen. He yearned to comfort her after a bad day, he yearned to give her everything she deserved and she deserved the world and certainly not the man like him…

Still, she had chosen him and it made him happy because she was happy and that was all that mattered. Well, except having Sirius degut him for touching Dora… but Sirius could be dealt with otherwise.

Knowing Randa and Regulus had paid off. The eve of any holiday or anniversary or birthday turned both kids into little devils on a sugar high. Since Regulus was at Hogwarts and Sirius and Mirzam had taken in Teddy and Alana Nott and Charlie and Minnie Potter and the boys were with Regulus at Hogwarts that left at 12 Grimmauld Place Randa, Alana and Minnie who around the lunch started showing signs of a sugar rush so Remus fire-called Dora with a question if she wanted to go to the cinema that evening and when she agreed he simply announced to a surprised Sirius that he was going out to the cinema and that Sirius and Mirzam were left on their own to deal with the girls.

A long time ago when Sirius and James were still on speaking terms and were still wallowing under a false misapprehension that one day their lycanthropic friend would go out for a date they gave Remus a set of rules which a man should and shouldn't do on a date. One of the rules was to allow the girl to pick the movie and suffering through a romantic comedy or even worse something teary.

But he had yet to see something romantic and/or teary. Three months and ten trips to the cinema and Dora still surprised him. "The Silence of the Lambs" wasn't a movie which a girl would pick eagerly but Dora did… and she clung to his arm for about three quarters of the movie. Not that he minded it, not in the least.

He hadn't minded the way the rest of the evening turned out too and more than once he sent a silent blessing to Merlin for his lycanthropic stamina. He wouldn't have minded either sharing a normal breakfast with Dora and lazing until noon in bed. However Dora had to head to Auror training and he had to sneak into the house before anyone would wake up.

At Grimmauld he was faced with three overly excited kids, thankfully meant to head to Hogwarts for their History of Magic lesson and close to half past ten in the morning he was finally able to sit down and take a breath: Mirzam was at Hogwarts and so were the girls. Sirius headed out to the Ministry and the whole house was empty.

He barely finished penning his article for the Auror Academy on the subject of dealing with werewolves when the girls landed on the kitchen floor. He frowned upon the sight, usually dispatched by the Floo, the girls came back the same way. It was extremely unusual for them to come back by a portkey.

"Randa," he eyed his goddaughter warily. "The Portkey?"

"The Floo wasn't working," Randa shrugged. "Mum is tutoring and told us to use it if the Floo still wasn't working after fifteen minutes."

"Probably the usual problems," Remus sighed. "For someone who works at the Ministry your father is extremely wary of using his connections to have the network set properly…"

"Can we turn on the wireless Uncle Moony?" Alana asked. "The Wand Wielder is going to be on in five minutes."

Upon the mention of The Wand Wielder all three girls squalled in delight… Personally Remus failed to see why the lot found The Wand Wielder so enchanting. After all it was a bloody vampire, supposedly allergic to human blood and therefore not inclined to lust for it ... yeah right and werewolves weren't werewolves, just big fluffy dogs with big teeth.

Nevertheless Remus turned the wireless on and returned to his article while the girls circled the radio.

He hardly managed to write down more than one proper paragraph when he heard the unmistakeable sound announcing breaking news… He never liked the sound, it was a sound of the past when each appearance of it forwarded information about yet another death or disappearance. How often he had heard it in the past, how often it left him feeling hallow and broken…

"… it had befallen on us… an accident at the Ministry… the extent of… unknown… Half past ten…"

The sounds muted and his world started greying on the edges. Half past ten… Sirius left the house at quarter past ten… even if he decided to take a walk to work he would reach the Ministry at half past ten at the very least.

Just before Sirius left he and Remus had a small argument over something he really couldn't remember… a trifle… and now Sirius… oh Merlin… the kids… and Mirzam…

Then he remembered more… Dora was supposed to be at the Ministry today…

… something cold and wet splashed his face and he came looking straight into Randa's eyes.

"Uncle Moony?" she asked carefully. "How are you feeling?"

He opened his mouth to say something but no sound emerged from his throat… He tried to clear his throat and only on his third attempt he managed to rasp… "Go to your room and play."

Randa only raised her eyebrows questioningly.

**R. B.**

When the news was announced her small heart filled with dread which she tried not to show to not alert her foster sisters. They had lost too much of their childhood already to worry about the accident at the Ministry personally.

But deep inside her heart was breaking and her soul was howling like a kicked dog. Her Papa could be in danger, grave danger if he somehow survived the accident. She wasn't his daughter for nothing. When her dad was heading to the Ministry at later hour he always left early enough to arrive with half an hour to spare.

So when the accident occurred Papa was inside the building…

How she managed to persuade Alana and Minnie to head upstairs to play without her she didn't know. All that mattered was her Papa and making sure that he wasn't… he couldn't be…

At times she accompanied her Papa to the Ministry, from 12 Grimmauld Place to the Ministry the distance was relatively short, barely fifteen minutes and not walking overly fast at that.

She wasted no time to transform and bolt out of the house. The dog was faster than any human in the least and before she knew how long it took her she was within the area of Ministry outer entrances.

There was an enormous crowd of extremely agitated people, it seemed as if no one knew what really happened but she really didn't pay attention to the other people… Until she heard her Papa's name being mentioned by some official. To her utmost relief the man was using present tense which meant that her Papa was alive and whole judging from how he was praised for taking action.

Papa taking an action was _alive__..._ Papa taking action and that was all that mattered. She would be able to head home with a lighter heart to calm down and tell her grey looking Uncle Moony that her dad was safe and sound. She stayed there for a moment longer before she managed to see her cousin Dora calming down some ill looking woman before she had turned on her heel in the direction of their home.

Just in front of the door she came to a halt.

She really should return home, she really should… to calm down Uncle Moony and to ascertain that Alana and Minnie won't break into hysteria but something stopped her. They lived on the north side of the Bloomsbury, a short walk to King's Cross Station and while they hadn't any close wizarding neighbours – well other than Hermione not far from their house, on Burton Street lived two families, the Slugtruckars, who if Randa's memory was working well were away on a vacation trip to Greece or some other warm country.

The other family she knew from sight were the Cavendishs, a quite average, mixed family where both father and mother were working for the Ministry and the kids were way smaller than her, ages four and five, a boy and a girl if she remembered correctly.

She turned on her heel once again and promptly headed to Burton Street silently cursing her conscience for bringing the idea up.

She reached the correct house quite fast and examined the surroundings. The house was not overly big but not too small either. But there was something amiss. Neither Mrs nor Mr Cavendish were idiots and only an idiot would leave the door to the house opened. In front of the house there was also parked a large van from a moving company.

'Easy idiot, they are simply moving out,' she chastised herself and was about to turn away but something stopped her dead in her tracks.

Surely someone meant to move away wasn't supposed to do it so hastily or to wear such heavy scarves around their faces on a warm day.

BURGLARS! Her conscience screamed.

But even if the Cavendishs were at the Ministry then surely at home with the kids was grandma Cavendish, the Muggle mother of Mr Cavendish. As a Muggle as she was she should be able to call the police… But they were nowhere to be seen.

Logic dictated, head home. But all her instincts rebelled against such a simple solution without checking on the kids.

Still cursing her conscience she waited for the two men to enter the moving truck with their hands occupied by a big TV and then she bolted into the house.

The Cavendishs house was similar in the layout to 6 Grimmauld Place. The first room in the hall was the kitchen, a very unlikely place to hide, behind it was the dinning-room. The door was open and she quickly ascertained that it was empty.

With her heart in her throat she made her way upstairs where the bedrooms were situated. She almost got a heart attack when she heard the men entering the house again just as she stepped on the first floor corridor.

Quickly she located Lucy's bedroom and peered inside. At first it seemed to be empty but then she spotted shoeless foot sticking from behind the desk. It was too big for Lily or Nigel… Mrs Cavendish!

She waited for a particularly loud enough noise downstairs before she pushed the door open and immediately left it ajar, transforming back into human form.

She glanced at Mrs Cavendish ashen face, she appeared to be barely gasping for breath. But when she saw Randa her thin lips formed in a smile as she whispered, "Prot…ect…"

With that her eyes closed and her chest stilled. Just in that moment she heard a softly whispered, "Grama…"

Without a thought to spare she had dove to the ground and looked under the bed.

Under the bed, huddled against one another were sitting Lily and Nigel. Quickly she took in their big, scared, blue eyes framed in angelic blonde curls. Immediately she brought a finger to her lips, wordlessly instructing them to remain silent.

They were between a hammer and a tight spot. For sure they couldn't remain here, not with the thieves downstairs, seeing that the men could be armed and dangerous. She needed a plan…

Her gaze fell on the window…

She could do it… She had enough of determination and was strong enough to do it, even if wandlessly.

"Get out from under the bed, quietly," she instructed younger kids briskly.

It took them a while to do it but soon enough Lucy and Max were standing by her side. Then, treading on her toes she approached the window and tried to open it. But it wouldn't budge, not even an inch and any attempts at opening it would alarm the men downstairs.

She cursed inwardly, with language which would earn her a hit with a rolled up newspaper if her Mum was around to hear it.

Just then she heard a slurry voice coming from downstairs, "Dispatch the trash…" She wasn't the daughter of an Auror for nothing to not realise the implications.

Then she stopped thinking and acted.

Just as the door opened she grabbed big vase standing on the table behind her and hit the man on the head. The man yelped, swayed on his feet and fell on the floor. Immediately she was on him, with a pillow in her hand and pressed it to the man's mouth. He tried to fight but it seemed that panic had increased her strength tenfold and soon enough the man stopped struggling.

As soon as she was done she grabbed the revolver the man was holding. Absent-mindedly she realised that the revolver had a silencer.

"After me," she barked to the kids. "Keep close and don't you dare peek from behind my back."

Both nodded quickly and followed her as she stepped on the corridor, then down the stairs. They were halfway through when through the door one of the men had entered.

He froze in midstep upon seeing Randa with the revolver in hand and so did she. She didn't think it over. She might have killed the man upstairs but she could as well have simply knock him out. But this man was different… She knew their intentions and she knew that they wouldn't rest until '_the trash was removed_'… Behind her back were two innocent children, who most probably lost their only family, parents in the attack and grandmother most likely due to a heart-attack.

"Good girlie…" the man slurred. "Give it to me," he said as he stretched out his left hand to her while his right slowly started moving to his back. "Frank!"

"Is dead," she said icily. "I killed him," she added calmly. "And I will kill you too."

The man laughed and that was his mistake.

She was a witch, she used wands and the main part of casting spells was aiming them properly. The revolver was like a wand and the bullet hit with precision, right in the man's face, possibly through his palate and stopped in his skull.

The man swayed and hit the ground with a groan just in the moment the third entered the hall. The other too hadn't a chance to yelp or extract any other sound, the bullet landed in the man's chest within less than five seconds.

"Move!" she barked as she grabbed Lily's hand and dragged her and Nigel down the stairs. "Get outside and wait for me," she instructed as they reached the ground floor.

"I will find you… you sodding cunt," the last man coughed.

"I rather doubt so," Randa said icily. "I might be small but I can kill, I already did."

But deep inside she wasn't that much sure. Sure she killed in self defence a moment earlier, but this was harder. This was finishing off a seriously wounded man… who would have killed the three of them if he had the chance.

"Say goodnight," she barked. "Obliviate. Your companions were faulty. You never saw me or the other kids. You started arguing and you don't know who shot first."

With that she left, safely tucking the gun behind her belt.

Outside by the truck, griping each other hands were waiting for her were Lily and Nigel.

"All clear," she said calmly. "You will stay with me until your parents won't return home. Okay? My dad will find them."

Lily nodded quickly and so did Nigel, albeit more slowly.

"That was …" Lily whispered as she grabbed Randa's left hand. "Wow. You are cool."

"Thank you," Randa smiled at her as she grabbed Nigel's hand with her other hand.

But deep inside she hadn't feel all that great, she had taken a life… or maybe two. She was a murderer.

Tightening the grip on the hands of younger kids she started walking in the direction of 12 Grimmauld Place, silently blessing her longer jacket for being long enough to hide the revolver tucked behind the waist on her back.

**R. L.**

Remus Lupin was having the worst day of his life. First the news of the accident and not a word about the dead or injured and then that…

When he recovered enough to remember that he had duties towards his wards he went upstairs to Randa's room where he had found Alana and Minnie but hadn't found any trace of Randa.

He called Kreacher and asked the old elf about her but Kreacher hadn't seen her anywhere. He was about to dispatch Kreacher to look for her when the entrance door opened and pale Randa walked inside followed by the Cavendish kids.

Without bat of an eyelid she approached Kreacher and said, "Kreacher could you prepare a bath for Lily and Nigel, and some fresh clothes, please."

The elf nodded and took both kids upstairs. It was only then when Randa threw herself at Remus and buried her head in his chest.

"I'm sorry, Uncle Remus," she choked out. "I was… I… I killed."

Remus felt floored, literally. A statement like that he could expect from Sirius or Dora, even Mirzam but most certainly not from a nine year old Randa.

"Explain please," he asked gently.

And she did.

Finally over tea, dosed with a safe doze of calming draught he managed to convince her that killing in self defence, more so in defence of little children who wouldn't be able to defend themselves against three armed men otherwise didn't make her a murderess.

Naturally killing, even in self defence, shouldn't be something which people should do if there was a chance to save a life. But she had no other choice but to protect Lily, Nigel and herself. It was terrible that a choice like that had befallen on her, but she had done right by Lily and Nigel. That was all that mattered now. Lily and Nigel were safe, had lived, when without her assistance most likely they would be brutally killed by the burglars.

The calming draught was effective and soon enough she was sleeping softly in his lap.

**R. B.**

When she opened her eyes she had felt different. Older, taller, somehow a different from the girl she was supposed to be.

And she was. In front of her was tall mirror and she could see her reflection, or the reflection of the girl she was. Tallish, bold-looking, with large dark eyes, a prominent chin and long black hair. There were some similarities to the girl she thought she would be in few years but not a lot.

Just as she was contemplating her strange reflection by her side materialised a head of a boy. He was taller than her. His eyes were green, hair messy and just as black as hers. He looked at her in the mirror and smiled wickedly at her.

"I would have never expected it," he said finally, his voice sounded familiar even if she couldn't put a finger on it. "Anything else but not this."

"I had to protect them," Randa said defensively.

"Them?" the boy asked and suddenly the rest of his body materialised under his head.

"Lily and Nigel," Randa explained. "They would have killed us otherwise. I had to protect them…" she started sounding panicked.

"And who am I to judge you?" the boy asked. "I killed more without aiming at them. Worse I killed those who mattered to me… Do you know how it is to be responsible for the death of the only father you ever knew?"

"No…" Randa whispered. "But I would have … I would have broke down if Papa died. Or Mama. Or Reg. Or Uncle Moony."

"Ah, you made me remember why I tried to reach you," the boy smiled at her more gently. "How about a seat Ro… Randa?"

"Seat?" she turned with her back to the mirror.

And suddenly the seemingly empty room changed in looks to the familiar sight of Papa's study.

"Nice," the boy said as he sat down on the couch. "Very nice. You are different than I expected… But I'm sorry … I have a different memory of you."

"Memory of me?" Randa whispered as she sat down on the other end of the couch.

"Memory of the girl you would grow up into, in another life," the boy clarified.

"You can't have another life," Randa said sceptically.

"But I did," the boy said simply. "So did you. I was there and so were you. Under different faces… different names… Excuse me but can you tell me the names of your birth parents?"

"Anna Miranda and Harry James Spencer," Randa answered quickly, more than once she had seen their names in the photo album of her, more than once she sent a small prayer to Merlin to let her parents know that she was happy and safe.

"Harry James Spencer?" the boy asked curiously. "Curious. Harry James…"

"Why you find it curious?" Randa asked sceptically.

"Because the name under which I knew you was not Spencer," the boy said softly. "Plus, my name is Harry James. Harry James Potter."

"Harry Potter?" Randa mumbled. "But you are dead."

"No I'm not," the boy, Harry, protested. "I'm as dead as you are and you are not dead."

"Harry is dead," Randa stated firmly. "He died when he and Charlie were fifteen months old."

"Harry is as dead as you are," Harry said simply. "He lives but he lives under a different name and face."

"I don't believe it," Randa shook her head.

"Harry is like you. He lives but under different name and has a hell of a memory problem if you ask me."

"I don't," Randa shrugged.

"But I asked you to come here Ro…"

"Ro what?" she asked harshly.

"I'm sorry," Harry smiled sheepishly. "I know that your name is Miranda Mirzam but I constantly keep thinking of you under the name I knew."

"What name?" she asked sceptically.

"Romilda Vane. Here, in this place you are on my territory and you assume the form of the one you were in my other life. Romilda Vane."

"I don't like it," she shrugged. "The Vanes are the disgrace of a proper law abiding family. The word has it that Mrs Vane used a love potion on her husband to make him marry her."

"That explains a lot," Harry said quietly. "Romilda attempted to dose me with a love potion but missed."

"That certainly wouldn't be me," Randa protested. "If I ever get married I would marry the man who would love me for the person I am."

"Good thinking," Harry chuckled. "Pity that you didn't have it in another life."

"I was born as Spencer, Mira Spencer to be exact, you call me Romilda Vane and my name is Miranda Black. Then who the hell I am?"

"You are you," Harry said simply. "You are Miranda Mirzam Black, born as Mira Spencer… You were Romilda Vane in another life, you won't be Romilda Vane but you could have been Romilda Vane if … if your parents had made different choices."

"Like?" she asked curiously.

And so he told her. About himself. About Harry James Potter. About growing up with the worst family she could have imagined. About Hogwarts. About Voldemort. Chamber of Secrets. His godfather, who happened to have the same name as her Papa. About Triwizard Tournament. About Voldemort's return. About the death of his godfather. About the death of grandpa Albie. About a second war.

"I chose to come back… Chose to change what happened… I knew I could do it. But then something went wrong Miranda," Harry said finally. They were sitting closer than at the very beginning, their knees and arms were touching slightly as they were sitting with their faces turned to one another. "Something went wrong and I was there… In a crib… and Voldemort was laughing, laughing maniacally. I knew that I wasn't alone… Everything hurt and I was so scared. I remember seeing Sirius's face… and Mirzam's… I never knew her in my other life… I wonder what happened to her when Sirius was taken to Azkaban…"

"They talked about a potion… Blood Adoption Potion I think, or something very similar in effect… But everything hurt and was blurry and before I realised what happened I was here… In that room you found yourself in… I think that it's some part of my mind… But quickly everything turned black and before I knew it the infant had grown into a boy… I started seeing him in the mirror a few months ago… I see him but he doesn't see me… doesn't react… I tried everything to make him… make me remember but I failed…"

Randa ran her hand through her hair and looked Harry in the eyes.

"So you are saying that you are the soul of an older, different Harry who grew up in another world but very much the same," she said finally. "You were supposed to remember your past but Harry, Regulus has no memories of your previous life."

"Nil," Harry confirmed. "I wouldn't mind it if it wasn't for Voldemort. I woke up for some reason when Charlie touched me. I have his memories… they are still there for me but he sees none of mine."

"He does," Randa objected softly. "He had nightmares… and then he stopped. Something is blocking the magic connecting the flow of your memories."

"You think?" Harry asked hopefully.

"I know my Mama," Randa shrugged. "And I know my Papa. They are so much the same as you described them, at least Papa and yet they are different."

"So I have seen," Harry nodded. "I envy him, Regulus, you know. I never had a family in the Dursleys, not until the very end and even then it was just Dudley. When I was all but a kid I wanted to have a Mum and Dad, even some brothers and/or sisters. I'm glad that Reg has you for a sister. I got used to your presence."

"You want to join with him," Randa tapped her lips as she said it. "Merge your souls…"

"Soul," Harry corrected her. "I had enough time to ascertain that the soul is the same, the key lies in Reggie's amnesia, in the memories."

"Then it's easy," Randa shrugged. "If the key lies in the memories then in memories you should seek the solution. A memory that you have in common, try to bring it forth to his mind and perhaps then he would remember his previous life."

"You think?" Harry asked quietly.

"I know," she hit his arm. "I know Reg, so I know you."

"I know that you know Reg… but you aren't Romilda and while I'm Reg and have his memories you have no memories of Romilda, and thank Merlin for that. I don't want you to have her memories," Harry said. "You are pure… untainted by that life and I ask you to remain this dear girl for as long as possible Miranda," Harry said fiercely.

"I'm afraid that it's no longer possible, Harry," Randa sighed and she told him about today's events.

"You've done what you considered the best and safest for the three of you, Miranda," Harry said. "You were forced to make a decision which wasn't supposed to be yours. It wasn't easy… but by Lily and Nigel it was right… I'm afraid that they don't have any other family left though… From what you were saying the accident cost many lives, their parents might be amongst the dead."

"I'm afraid so too," Randa admitted. "But I don't want to be the one to tell them. It was bad enough to play ignorant in front of Alana and Minnie. I know more because … well I'm the daughter of Sirius Black, that counts for something… Papa never wanted us to be ignorant about the threats to our world."

"For that even I can ascertain," Harry nodded. "He wanted me to be prepared… he lost his life because I wasn't prepared. I don't want it to happen again. I have so many memories of him… Good memories because of Reg and … memories of the man who had been broken by Azkaban… I had been so relieved when I realised that he never has been to Azkaban other than for an inspection."

"I'm glad that it had missed him too," Randa said quietly. "He wouldn't be the same… It would have broke Mama…," she paused and touched Harry's hand as she added, "I think it had broken her in your world… They loved each other very, very much…"

"But I still cannot believe that you were Romilda Vane… My sister Romilda Vane."

"Shut it!" Randa smacked his arm in indignation. "Me? A Vane… what a vain."

"I prefer Miranda over Romilda. You are a way more pleasant person than your other self was," Harry smiled at her. "I'm glad that you are my sister."

"I'm glad that you are my brother, I always was," Randa smiled back. "I'm glad that you spoke to me about the deaths of those men. I can live with keeping others and myself alive." She paused and looked at him as she asked, "Will I see you again?"

"Of course you will," Harry smiled at her. "I'm always here," he reached his hand and touched her forehead. "I will be always with you when you need me the most and when Reg starts to remember we would be able to talk in the normal way."

"I hope that he does, soon," Randa sighed. "But you will stay Reg… Not that I don't like Harry."

"Harry would complicate things more than they already are, Miranda," Harry sighed. "Here in your mind I will be Harry… but once Reggie remembers I will be Reggie and I will answer to Reggie. But can you answer me why you are called Randa?"

"Because Papa calls Mama Mimi. Besides I like Randa more than Mira. As you said I was born as Mira Spencer, I hadn't grown up as her, nor as Romilda Vane."

Harry smiled cheekily and said seriously, "My sister Romilda Vane."

"Keep it up and you would wish that Voldemort got you first," Randa said cheekily.

"Been there, tried before, always escaped," Harry shrugged. "Voldemort doesn't know what would hit him once the memories will come back."

* * *

**Awaiting criticism - like always. I'm replying as long as you leave me your email or you log in while reviewing.**

_Surprised, aren't you? There might be another chapter before or around Christmas and I solemnly swear that I will answer to all reviews in the meantime. Last month had been quite stressful to me and I hadn't time to write as fast as I was used to._


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